CVE-2024-45031
📋 TL;DR
This stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Apache Syncope allows attackers to inject malicious scripts through incomplete HTML tags that bypass sanitization. Both Syncope Console administrators and Syncope Enduser users are affected, enabling session hijacking and other client-side attacks. The vulnerability affects versions before 3.0.9.
💻 Affected Systems
- Apache Syncope
📦 What is this software?
Syncope by Apache
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could hijack administrator sessions, gain full administrative access to Syncope, steal sensitive data, and potentially pivot to other systems.
Likely Case
Attackers inject malicious scripts to steal session cookies, perform actions as other users, or deface the application interface.
If Mitigated
With proper input validation and output encoding, XSS payloads would be neutralized before execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access to edit functionality. The vulnerability is well-documented in public advisories.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.0.9
Vendor Advisory: https://lists.apache.org/thread/fn567pfmo3s55ofkc42drz8b4kgbhp9m
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Backup current configuration and data. 2. Download Apache Syncope 3.0.9 from official sources. 3. Stop the Syncope service. 4. Replace with version 3.0.9. 5. Restart the service. 6. Verify functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation Enhancement
allImplement additional server-side input validation to reject incomplete HTML tags and suspicious patterns.
Content Security Policy
allImplement strict Content Security Policy headers to mitigate XSS impact.
Add 'Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'' to web server configuration
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable or restrict access to Syncope Console and Enduser editing functionality
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block XSS patterns and incomplete HTML tags
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if running Apache Syncope version earlier than 3.0.9. Review application logs for suspicious HTML injection attempts.Check Version:
Check Syncope web interface footer or application logs for version informationVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 3.0.9 or later. Test editing functionality with test XSS payloads to ensure sanitization works.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual HTML patterns in edit requests
- Multiple failed edit attempts with special characters
- Suspicious user agent strings
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing incomplete HTML tags in POST data
- Unusual outbound connections after edit operations
SIEM Query:
source="syncope" AND ("<script" OR "javascript:" OR "onerror=" OR incomplete HTML patterns)