CWE-79
AllowedImproper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Abstraction: Base · Status: Stable
The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.
67074 vulnerabilities reference this CWE, most recent first.
GHSA-RV3F-J8C3-VGP8
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2022-02-11 00:01 – Updated: 2022-02-11 00:01The Embed Swagger WordPress plugin is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting due to insufficient escaping/sanitization and validation via the url parameter found in the ~/swagger-iframe.php file which allows attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts onto the page, in versions up to and including 1.0.0.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2022-0381"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-79"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2022-02-04T23:15:00Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "The Embed Swagger WordPress plugin is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting due to insufficient escaping/sanitization and validation via the url parameter found in the ~/swagger-iframe.php file which allows attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts onto the page, in versions up to and including 1.0.0.",
"id": "GHSA-rv3f-j8c3-vgp8",
"modified": "2022-02-11T00:01:19Z",
"published": "2022-02-11T00:01:19Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-0381"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://gist.github.com/Xib3rR4dAr/4b3ea7960914e23c3a875b973a5b37a3"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/embed-swagger/trunk/swagger-iframe.php#L59"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.wordfence.com/vulnerability-advisories/#CVE-2022-0381"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": []
}
GHSA-RV3G-CGPH-CC24
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2023-06-14 21:30 – Updated: 2024-02-02 15:30Netbox 3.5.1 is vulnerable to Cross Site Scripting (XSS) in the "Create Wireless LAN Groups" function.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2023-34565"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-79"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2023-06-14T21:15:09Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "Netbox 3.5.1 is vulnerable to Cross Site Scripting (XSS) in the \"Create Wireless LAN Groups\" function.",
"id": "GHSA-rv3g-cgph-cc24",
"modified": "2024-02-02T15:30:28Z",
"published": "2023-06-14T21:30:40Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-34565"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/grayfullbuster0804/netbox/issues/1"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
GHSA-RV3R-VQJJ-8C76
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2022-08-30 20:53 – Updated: 2025-03-24 14:37Introduction
Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of vulnerability that allows to execute any kind of JavaScript code inside the Panel session of the same or other users. In the Panel, a harmful script can for example trigger requests to Kirby's API with the permissions of the victim.
Such vulnerabilities are critical if you might have potential attackers in your group of authenticated Panel users. They can escalate their privileges if they get access to the Panel session of an admin user. Depending on your site, other JavaScript-powered attacks are possible.
Impact
The tags and multiselect fields allow to select tags from an autocompleted list. The tags field also allows to enter new tags or edit existing tags. Kirby already handled escaping of the autocompleted tags, but unfortunately the Panel used HTML rendering for new or edited tags as well as for custom tags from the content file.
This allowed attackers with Panel access to store malicious HTML code in a tag. The browser of the victim who visited the modified page in the Panel will then have rendered this malicious HTML code.
It also allowed self-inflicted XSS attacks in the tags field (meaning that malicious code is executed in the browser of the user who entered it). This could be used in social engineering attacks where a victim is convinced by an attacker to enter malicious code into a tags field.
Visitors without Panel access could only use this attack vector if your site allows changing the content of a tags or multiselect field from a frontend form (for example user self-registration or the creation of pages from a contact or other frontend form). If you validate or sanitize the provided form data, you are already protected against such attacks by external visitors.
You are also not affected by these vulnerabilities if your site doesn't have untrustworthy users with Panel access or a way to modify field values from the frontend or if you don't use the tags or multiselect fields.
Patches
The problems have been patched in Kirby 3.5.8.1, Kirby 3.6.6.1 and Kirby 3.7.4. Please update to one of these or a later version to fix the vulnerabilities.
Note: The fixes for these vulnerabilities have the side effect that values in the tags and multiselect fields that come from dynamic options are displayed with double escaping (e.g. the & character is displayed as &). In the fix for Kirby 3.5, every value in the tags field is displayed with double escaping when dynamic options are enabled, while dynamic options themselves are displayed with triple escaping. We will fix the double/triple escaping issues with a refactoring of the options fields (tags, multiselect, checkboxes, radio, select and toggles) in Kirby 3.8.
Workarounds
We recommend to update to one of the patch releases. If you cannot update immediately, you can work around the issue by disabling the tags and multiselect fields. This can be done by uncommenting these fields from all your blueprints.
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Packagist",
"name": "getkirby/cms"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "3.5.7"
},
{
"fixed": "3.5.8.1"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
},
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Packagist",
"name": "getkirby/cms"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "3.6.0"
},
{
"fixed": "3.6.6.1"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
},
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Packagist",
"name": "getkirby/cms"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "3.7.0"
},
{
"fixed": "3.7.4"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-79"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2022-08-30T20:53:03Z",
"nvd_published_at": null,
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "### Introduction\n\nCross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of vulnerability that allows to execute any kind of JavaScript code inside the Panel session of the same or other users. In the Panel, a harmful script can for example trigger requests to Kirby\u0027s API with the permissions of the victim.\n\nSuch vulnerabilities are critical if you might have potential attackers in your group of authenticated Panel users. They can escalate their privileges if they get access to the Panel session of an admin user. Depending on your site, other JavaScript-powered attacks are possible.\n\n### Impact\n\nThe tags and multiselect fields allow to select tags from an autocompleted list. The tags field also allows to enter new tags or edit existing tags. Kirby already handled escaping of the autocompleted tags, but unfortunately the Panel used HTML rendering for new or edited tags as well as for custom tags from the content file.\n\nThis allowed **attackers with Panel access** to store malicious HTML code in a tag. The browser of the victim who visited the modified page in the Panel will then have rendered this malicious HTML code.\n\nIt also allowed **self-inflicted XSS attacks** in the tags field (meaning that malicious code is executed in the browser of the user who entered it). This could be used in social engineering attacks where a victim is convinced by an attacker to enter malicious code into a tags field.\n\n**Visitors without Panel access** could *only* use this attack vector if your site allows changing the content of a tags or multiselect field from a frontend form (for example user self-registration or the creation of pages from a contact or other frontend form). If you validate or sanitize the provided form data, you are already protected against such attacks by external visitors.\n\nYou are also *not* affected by these vulnerabilities if your site doesn\u0027t have untrustworthy users with Panel access or a way to modify field values from the frontend or if you don\u0027t use the tags or multiselect fields.\n\n### Patches\n\nThe problems have been patched in [Kirby 3.5.8.1](https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/3.5.8.1), [Kirby 3.6.6.1](https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/3.6.6.1) and [Kirby 3.7.4](https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/3.7.4). Please update to one of these or a [later version](https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases) to fix the vulnerabilities.\n\n**Note:** The fixes for these vulnerabilities have the side effect that values in the tags and multiselect fields that come from dynamic options are displayed with double escaping (e.g. the `\u0026` character is displayed as `\u0026amp;`). In the fix for Kirby 3.5, every value in the tags field is displayed with double escaping when dynamic options are enabled, while dynamic options themselves are displayed with triple escaping. We will fix the double/triple escaping issues with a refactoring of the options fields (tags, multiselect, checkboxes, radio, select and toggles) in Kirby 3.8.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nWe recommend to update to one of the patch releases. If you cannot update immediately, you can work around the issue by disabling the tags and multiselect fields. This can be done by uncommenting these fields from all your blueprints.",
"id": "GHSA-rv3r-vqjj-8c76",
"modified": "2025-03-24T14:37:40Z",
"published": "2022-08-30T20:53:03Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/security/advisories/GHSA-rv3r-vqjj-8c76"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/getkirby/kirby"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
],
"summary": "Cross-site scripting from content entered in the tags and multiselect fields"
}
GHSA-RV3X-XQ3R-8J9H
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2023-06-09 19:32 – Updated: 2023-06-09 19:32Impact
This affects anyone passing unsanitised data to Leaf's variable tags. Before this fix, Leaf would not escape any strings passed to tags as variables. If an attacker managed to find a variable that was rendered with their unsanitised data, they could inject scripts into a generated Leaf page, which could enable XSS attacks if other mitigations such as a Content Security Policy were not enabled.
Patches
This has been patched in 1.3.0
Workarounds
Sanitise any untrusted input before passing it to Leaf and enable a CSP to block inline script and CSS data.
References
https://github.com/vapor/leaf-kit-ghsa-rv3x-xq3r-8j9h/pull/1
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Open an issue in Leaf Kit * Email us at security@vapor.codes
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "SwiftURL",
"name": "github.com/vapor/leaf-kit"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1.3.0"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2021-37634"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-79",
"CWE-80"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2023-06-09T19:32:32Z",
"nvd_published_at": "2021-08-09T20:15:00Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "### Impact\nThis affects anyone passing unsanitised data to Leaf\u0027s variable tags. Before this fix, Leaf would not escape any strings passed to tags as variables. If an attacker managed to find a variable that was rendered with their unsanitised data, they could inject scripts into a generated Leaf page, which could enable XSS attacks if other mitigations such as a Content Security Policy were not enabled.\n\n### Patches\nThis has been patched in 1.3.0\n\n### Workarounds\nSanitise any untrusted input before passing it to Leaf and enable a CSP to block inline script and CSS data.\n\n### References\nhttps://github.com/vapor/leaf-kit-ghsa-rv3x-xq3r-8j9h/pull/1\n\n### For more information\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n* Open an issue in [Leaf Kit](https://github.com/vapor/leaf-kit)\n* Email us at [security@vapor.codes](mailto:security@vapor.codes)",
"id": "GHSA-rv3x-xq3r-8j9h",
"modified": "2023-06-09T19:32:32Z",
"published": "2023-06-09T19:32:32Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/vapor/leaf-kit/security/advisories/GHSA-rv3x-xq3r-8j9h"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-37634"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/vapor/leaf-kit"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/vapor/leaf-kit/releases/tag/1.3.0"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [],
"summary": "LeafKit allows XSS with untrusted user input"
}
GHSA-RV48-F2G6-RW34
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2022-05-24 16:53 – Updated: 2024-04-04 01:40XSS exists in WEB STUDIO Ultimate Loan Manager 2.0 by adding a branch under the Branches button that sets the notes parameter with crafted JavaScript code.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2019-14427"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-79"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2019-08-14T22:15:00Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "XSS exists in WEB STUDIO Ultimate Loan Manager 2.0 by adding a branch under the Branches button that sets the notes parameter with crafted JavaScript code.",
"id": "GHSA-rv48-f2g6-rw34",
"modified": "2024-04-04T01:40:43Z",
"published": "2022-05-24T16:53:42Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-14427"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/47198"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
GHSA-RV49-VC49-4RPP
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2022-04-27 00:00 – Updated: 2022-05-05 00:00nopCommerce 4.50.1 is vulnerable to Cross Site Scripting (XSS). At Apply for vendor account feature, an attacker can upload an arbitrary file to the system.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2022-28449"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-79"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2022-04-26T21:15:00Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "nopCommerce 4.50.1 is vulnerable to Cross Site Scripting (XSS). At Apply for vendor account feature, an attacker can upload an arbitrary file to the system.",
"id": "GHSA-rv49-vc49-4rpp",
"modified": "2022-05-05T00:00:36Z",
"published": "2022-04-27T00:00:19Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-28449"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/nopSolutions/nopCommerce/issues/6192"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
GHSA-RV4C-25XC-4F6G
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-02-20 18:31 – Updated: 2026-02-24 00:31Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in anmari amr cron manager amr-cron-manager allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects amr cron manager: from n/a through <= 2.3.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2025-68848"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-79"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-02-20T16:22:13Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation (\u0027Cross-site Scripting\u0027) vulnerability in anmari amr cron manager amr-cron-manager allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects amr cron manager: from n/a through \u003c= 2.3.",
"id": "GHSA-rv4c-25xc-4f6g",
"modified": "2026-02-24T00:31:33Z",
"published": "2026-02-20T18:31:35Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68848"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/amr-cron-manager/vulnerability/wordpress-amr-cron-manager-plugin-2-3-reflecte-dcross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
GHSA-RV4F-CRJQ-XJF8
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2025-03-20 12:32 – Updated: 2025-03-20 12:32A stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in netease-youdao/QAnything. Attackers can upload malicious knowledge files to the knowledge base, which can trigger XSS attacks during user chats. This vulnerability affects all versions prior to the fix.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2024-8027"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-79"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2025-03-20T10:15:39Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "A stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in netease-youdao/QAnything. Attackers can upload malicious knowledge files to the knowledge base, which can trigger XSS attacks during user chats. This vulnerability affects all versions prior to the fix.",
"id": "GHSA-rv4f-crjq-xjf8",
"modified": "2025-03-20T12:32:47Z",
"published": "2025-03-20T12:32:47Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-8027"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://huntr.com/bounties/cf75f024-3d64-416d-adfe-c4255d7c3f34"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
GHSA-RV4P-HV2V-9W74
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2025-07-25 15:30 – Updated: 2026-04-08 21:33The Taeggie Feed plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the plugin's taeggie-feed shortcode in all versions up to, and including, 0.1.10. The plugin’s render() method takes the user-supplied name attribute and injects it directly into a tag - both in the id attribute and inside jQuery.getScript() - without proper escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2025-6382"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-79"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2025-07-24T10:15:27Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "The Taeggie Feed plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the plugin\u0027s taeggie-feed shortcode in all versions up to, and including, 0.1.10. The plugin\u2019s render() method takes the user-supplied name attribute and injects it directly into a \u003cscript\u003e tag - both in the id attribute and inside jQuery.getScript() - without proper escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.",
"id": "GHSA-rv4p-hv2v-9w74",
"modified": "2026-04-08T21:33:05Z",
"published": "2025-07-25T15:30:43Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-6382"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/taeggie-feed/trunk/taeggie_feed.php"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3336357"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://wordpress.org/plugins/taeggie-feed/#developers"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/c7f5ac78-5195-4b59-abc7-f41e487f9361?source=cve"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
GHSA-RV4V-4CGV-XPF6
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-07-23 12:32 – Updated: 2026-07-23 12:32The Grid/List View for WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'position' Shortcode Attribute in all versions up to, and including, 3.0.9 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page. The shortcode's all_page="1" attribute can be used to force the widget to render on any page, expanding the attack surface beyond shop and category pages.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-15794"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-79"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-07-23T10:16:51Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "The Grid/List View for WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via \u0027position\u0027 Shortcode Attribute in all versions up to, and including, 3.0.9 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page. The shortcode\u0027s all_page=\"1\" attribute can be used to force the widget to render on any page, expanding the attack surface beyond shop and category pages.",
"id": "GHSA-rv4v-4cgv-xpf6",
"modified": "2026-07-23T12:32:22Z",
"published": "2026-07-23T12:32:22Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-15794"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/gridlist-view-for-woocommerce/trunk/includes/widget.php#L22"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/gridlist-view-for-woocommerce/trunk/main.php#L171"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/gridlist-view-for-woocommerce/trunk/templates/list-grid.php#L14"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=\u0026old=3611837%40gridlist-view-for-woocommerce\u0026new=3611837%40gridlist-view-for-woocommerce"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/c4498d0a-32f2-4747-88bd-0f85312b4653?source=cve"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
Mitigation MIT-4
Strategy: Libraries or Frameworks
- Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid [REF-1482].
- Examples of libraries and frameworks that make it easier to generate properly encoded output include Microsoft's Anti-XSS library, the OWASP ESAPI Encoding module, and Apache Wicket.
Mitigation
- Understand the context in which your data will be used and the encoding that will be expected. This is especially important when transmitting data between different components, or when generating outputs that can contain multiple encodings at the same time, such as web pages or multi-part mail messages. Study all expected communication protocols and data representations to determine the required encoding strategies.
- For any data that will be output to another web page, especially any data that was received from external inputs, use the appropriate encoding on all non-alphanumeric characters.
- Parts of the same output document may require different encodings, which will vary depending on whether the output is in the:
- etc. Note that HTML Entity Encoding is only appropriate for the HTML body.
- Consult the XSS Prevention Cheat Sheet [REF-724] for more details on the types of encoding and escaping that are needed.
- HTML body
- Element attributes (such as src="XYZ")
- URIs
- JavaScript sections
- Cascading Style Sheets and style property
Mitigation MIT-6
Strategy: Attack Surface Reduction
Understand all the potential areas where untrusted inputs can enter your software: parameters or arguments, cookies, anything read from the network, environment variables, reverse DNS lookups, query results, request headers, URL components, e-mail, files, filenames, databases, and any external systems that provide data to the application. Remember that such inputs may be obtained indirectly through API calls.
Mitigation MIT-15
For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.
Mitigation MIT-27
Strategy: Parameterization
If available, use structured mechanisms that automatically enforce the separation between data and code. These mechanisms may be able to provide the relevant quoting, encoding, and validation automatically, instead of relying on the developer to provide this capability at every point where output is generated.
Mitigation MIT-30.1
Strategy: Output Encoding
- Use and specify an output encoding that can be handled by the downstream component that is reading the output. Common encodings include ISO-8859-1, UTF-7, and UTF-8. When an encoding is not specified, a downstream component may choose a different encoding, either by assuming a default encoding or automatically inferring which encoding is being used, which can be erroneous. When the encodings are inconsistent, the downstream component might treat some character or byte sequences as special, even if they are not special in the original encoding. Attackers might then be able to exploit this discrepancy and conduct injection attacks; they even might be able to bypass protection mechanisms that assume the original encoding is also being used by the downstream component.
- The problem of inconsistent output encodings often arises in web pages. If an encoding is not specified in an HTTP header, web browsers often guess about which encoding is being used. This can open up the browser to subtle XSS attacks.
Mitigation MIT-43
With Struts, write all data from form beans with the bean's filter attribute set to true.
Mitigation MIT-31
Strategy: Attack Surface Reduction
To help mitigate XSS attacks against the user's session cookie, set the session cookie to be HttpOnly. In browsers that support the HttpOnly feature (such as more recent versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox), this attribute can prevent the user's session cookie from being accessible to malicious client-side scripts that use document.cookie. This is not a complete solution, since HttpOnly is not supported by all browsers. More importantly, XmlHttpRequest and other powerful browser technologies provide read access to HTTP headers, including the Set-Cookie header in which the HttpOnly flag is set.
Mitigation MIT-5
Strategy: Input Validation
- Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
- When performing input validation, consider all potentially relevant properties, including length, type of input, the full range of acceptable values, missing or extra inputs, syntax, consistency across related fields, and conformance to business rules. As an example of business rule logic, "boat" may be syntactically valid because it only contains alphanumeric characters, but it is not valid if the input is only expected to contain colors such as "red" or "blue."
- Do not rely exclusively on looking for malicious or malformed inputs. This is likely to miss at least one undesirable input, especially if the code's environment changes. This can give attackers enough room to bypass the intended validation. However, denylists can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright.
- When dynamically constructing web pages, use stringent allowlists that limit the character set based on the expected value of the parameter in the request. All input should be validated and cleansed, not just parameters that the user is supposed to specify, but all data in the request, including hidden fields, cookies, headers, the URL itself, and so forth. A common mistake that leads to continuing XSS vulnerabilities is to validate only fields that are expected to be redisplayed by the site. It is common to see data from the request that is reflected by the application server or the application that the development team did not anticipate. Also, a field that is not currently reflected may be used by a future developer. Therefore, validating ALL parts of the HTTP request is recommended.
- Note that proper output encoding, escaping, and quoting is the most effective solution for preventing XSS, although input validation may provide some defense-in-depth. This is because it effectively limits what will appear in output. Input validation will not always prevent XSS, especially if you are required to support free-form text fields that could contain arbitrary characters. For example, in a chat application, the heart emoticon ("<3") would likely pass the validation step, since it is commonly used. However, it cannot be directly inserted into the web page because it contains the "<" character, which would need to be escaped or otherwise handled. In this case, stripping the "<" might reduce the risk of XSS, but it would produce incorrect behavior because the emoticon would not be recorded. This might seem to be a minor inconvenience, but it would be more important in a mathematical forum that wants to represent inequalities.
- Even if you make a mistake in your validation (such as forgetting one out of 100 input fields), appropriate encoding is still likely to protect you from injection-based attacks. As long as it is not done in isolation, input validation is still a useful technique, since it may significantly reduce your attack surface, allow you to detect some attacks, and provide other security benefits that proper encoding does not address.
- Ensure that you perform input validation at well-defined interfaces within the application. This will help protect the application even if a component is reused or moved elsewhere.
Mitigation MIT-21
Strategy: Enforcement by Conversion
When the set of acceptable objects, such as filenames or URLs, is limited or known, create a mapping from a set of fixed input values (such as numeric IDs) to the actual filenames or URLs, and reject all other inputs.
Mitigation MIT-29
Strategy: Firewall
Use an application firewall that can detect attacks against this weakness. It can be beneficial in cases in which the code cannot be fixed (because it is controlled by a third party), as an emergency prevention measure while more comprehensive software assurance measures are applied, or to provide defense in depth [REF-1481].
Mitigation MIT-16
Strategy: Environment Hardening
When using PHP, configure the application so that it does not use register_globals. During implementation, develop the application so that it does not rely on this feature, but be wary of implementing a register_globals emulation that is subject to weaknesses such as CWE-95, CWE-621, and similar issues.
CAPEC-209: XSS Using MIME Type Mismatch
An adversary creates a file with scripting content but where the specified MIME type of the file is such that scripting is not expected. The adversary tricks the victim into accessing a URL that responds with the script file. Some browsers will detect that the specified MIME type of the file does not match the actual type of its content and will automatically switch to using an interpreter for the real content type. If the browser does not invoke script filters before doing this, the adversary's script may run on the target unsanitized, possibly revealing the victim's cookies or executing arbitrary script in their browser.
CAPEC-588: DOM-Based XSS
This type of attack is a form of Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) where a malicious script is inserted into the client-side HTML being parsed by a web browser. Content served by a vulnerable web application includes script code used to manipulate the Document Object Model (DOM). This script code either does not properly validate input, or does not perform proper output encoding, thus creating an opportunity for an adversary to inject a malicious script launch a XSS attack. A key distinction between other XSS attacks and DOM-based attacks is that in other XSS attacks, the malicious script runs when the vulnerable web page is initially loaded, while a DOM-based attack executes sometime after the page loads. Another distinction of DOM-based attacks is that in some cases, the malicious script is never sent to the vulnerable web server at all. An attack like this is guaranteed to bypass any server-side filtering attempts to protect users.
CAPEC-591: Reflected XSS
This type of attack is a form of Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) where a malicious script is "reflected" off a vulnerable web application and then executed by a victim's browser. The process starts with an adversary delivering a malicious script to a victim and convincing the victim to send the script to the vulnerable web application.
CAPEC-592: Stored XSS
An adversary utilizes a form of Cross-site Scripting (XSS) where a malicious script is persistently "stored" within the data storage of a vulnerable web application as valid input.
CAPEC-63: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
An adversary embeds malicious scripts in content that will be served to web browsers. The goal of the attack is for the target software, the client-side browser, to execute the script with the users' privilege level. An attack of this type exploits a programs' vulnerabilities that are brought on by allowing remote hosts to execute code and scripts. Web browsers, for example, have some simple security controls in place, but if a remote attacker is allowed to execute scripts (through injecting them in to user-generated content like bulletin boards) then these controls may be bypassed. Further, these attacks are very difficult for an end user to detect.
CAPEC-85: AJAX Footprinting
This attack utilizes the frequent client-server roundtrips in Ajax conversation to scan a system. While Ajax does not open up new vulnerabilities per se, it does optimize them from an attacker point of view. A common first step for an attacker is to footprint the target environment to understand what attacks will work. Since footprinting relies on enumeration, the conversational pattern of rapid, multiple requests and responses that are typical in Ajax applications enable an attacker to look for many vulnerabilities, well-known ports, network locations and so on. The knowledge gained through Ajax fingerprinting can be used to support other attacks, such as XSS.