CVE-2024-55000
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2024-55000 is a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the House Rental Management System v1.0 that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into the rental/manage_categories.php page. This affects administrators and users who access the compromised categories page. The injected scripts execute in victims' browsers when they view the affected page.
💻 Affected Systems
- Sourcecodester House Rental Management System
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could steal administrator session cookies, perform account takeover, deface the website, or redirect users to malicious sites, potentially leading to complete system compromise.
Likely Case
Attackers inject malicious JavaScript to steal session cookies or credentials from administrators, leading to unauthorized access to the rental management system.
If Mitigated
With proper input validation and output encoding, the malicious scripts would be neutralized, preventing any exploitation.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authentication to access the vulnerable page, but the technical complexity of XSS injection is low. Public proof-of-concept demonstrates the vulnerability.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Not available
Vendor Advisory: Not available
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
No official patch available. Implement input validation and output encoding in rental/manage_categories.php to sanitize user inputs before storage and display.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement Input Validation and Output Encoding
allAdd server-side validation to sanitize all user inputs in the categories management functionality and implement proper output encoding when displaying category data.
Edit rental/manage_categories.php to add htmlspecialchars() or similar sanitization functions around all user-controlled outputs
Restrict Access to Vulnerable Page
allTemporarily restrict access to rental/manage_categories.php to trusted administrators only or disable the feature if not essential.
Add IP-based restrictions or additional authentication checks to rental/manage_categories.php
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with XSS protection rules to block malicious payloads
- Disable the categories management feature entirely if not critical for operations
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Test by attempting to inject a simple XSS payload like <script>alert('XSS')</script> into the categories management form and check if it executes when viewing the page.Check Version:
Check the system version in the admin panel or review the application files for version indicatorsVerify Fix Applied:
After implementing fixes, attempt the same XSS injection and verify the payload is properly sanitized and does not execute in the browser.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to rental/manage_categories.php with script tags or JavaScript code in parameters
- Multiple failed login attempts followed by successful access to the vulnerable page
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing script tags or JavaScript in category-related parameters
- Unusual outbound connections from the web server after category updates
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND uri="/rental/manage_categories.php" AND (body CONTAINS "<script>" OR body CONTAINS "javascript:")