CVE-2024-48279
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a HTML injection vulnerability in PHPGurukul's User Registration & Login and User Management System. Attackers can inject arbitrary HTML code via the searchkey parameter in POST requests to /search-result.php, potentially leading to cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. All users running version 3.2 of this system are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- PHPGurukul User Registration & Login and User Management System
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Full account takeover via session hijacking, credential theft through phishing forms, or redirection to malicious sites leading to malware installation.
Likely Case
Stored XSS attacks affecting other users, session hijacking, defacement of search results pages, or credential harvesting.
If Mitigated
Limited to self-XSS if proper input validation and output encoding are implemented, with minimal impact on other users.
🎯 Exploit Status
The exploit requires only a simple POST request with malicious HTML in the searchkey parameter.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Unknown
Vendor Advisory: None known
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
No official patch available. Implement input validation and output encoding as described in workarounds.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation and Sanitization
allAdd server-side validation to sanitize the searchkey parameter by removing or encoding HTML tags.
Edit /search-result.php and add: $searchkey = htmlspecialchars($_POST['searchkey'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');
Web Application Firewall (WAF) Rule
allConfigure WAF to block requests containing HTML/JavaScript in the searchkey parameter.
Add rule: Block POST requests to /search-result.php with searchkey parameter containing <script>, <img>, or other HTML tags.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable the search functionality entirely if not needed.
- Implement strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to mitigate XSS impact.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Send a POST request to /search-result.php with searchkey=<script>alert('XSS')</script> and check if script executes.Check Version:
Check the system's admin panel or configuration files for version information.Verify Fix Applied:
Repeat the test after applying fixes; script should not execute and HTML should be displayed as plain text.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- POST requests to /search-result.php with searchkey containing HTML tags or JavaScript.
Network Indicators:
- Unusual POST payloads to search-result.php with encoded HTML/JS in searchkey parameter.
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND uri="/search-result.php" AND method="POST" AND searchkey MATCHES "<.*>"