Phorum 5.0.3 Beta && Earlier XSS Issues
Vendor : Phorum
URL : http://www.phorum.org
Version : Phorum 5.0.3 Beta && Earlier
Risk : Cross Site Scripting
Description:
Phorum is a web based message board written in PHP. Phorum is designed
with high-availability and visitor ease of use in mind. Features such as
mailing list integration, easy customization and simple installation make
Phorum a powerful add-in to any website.
Problem:
Phorum have patched a good number of XSS (Cross Site Scripting) issues in
the past, but there is still some work to be done regarding these issues
before the final release of Phorum Version 5. The first issue I am going
to talk about lies in "login.php" If you look at the HTML source code you
should see two hidden variables. One called "f" which specifies the forum
id, and one called "target" which specifies the location to take the user
after they login. Unfortunately both of these values are taken directly
from the value of HTTP_REFERER without any validation. While there is a
global script in forum that checks for the <script> tag, it will allow
for
pretty much any thing else, and most of you know it is not hard to execute
javascript inside of a tag which is allowed. This same vulnerability also
exists in "register.php" And while not the exact same, a similar problem
to these two exists in "profile.php" also. Below are some examples.
login.php?HTTP_REFERER=[XSS]
register.php?&HTTP_REFERER=[XSS]
profile.php?id=2&action=edit&target=[XSS]
Solution:
The vendor was contacted and immediately responded, and will be releasing a
fix soon. Thanks to Brian Moon and the rest of the forum dev team for such a
quick response. It is appreciated. The original advisory can be located at
the following location http://www.gulftech.org/03152004.php
Credits:
Credits go to JeiAr of the GulfTech Security Research Team.
http://www.gulftech.org