CVE-2018-19178

Vulnerability

In JEESNS version 1.3, the XssHttpServletRequestWrapper.java class in com/lxinet/jeesns/core/utils/ fails to properly filter HTML EMBED elements, allowing stored cross-site scripting (XSS). The filter is lax and does not encode or block dangerous tags, enabling injection via post content and comments. [1]

Exploitation

An attacker must be a logged-in user of the JEESNS social management system. The attacker can craft a post or comment containing an HTML EMBED element with malicious JavaScript. When other users view the post or comment, the script executes in their browser. No additional privileges are required beyond basic user access. [1]

Impact

Successful exploitation leads to stored XSS, allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of the victim's session. This can result in cookie theft, session hijacking, defacement, or redirection to malicious sites. The attack affects all users who view the injected content. [1]

Mitigation

As of the publication date, no official patch has been released for JEESNS 1.3. The issue report suggests general XSS prevention measures such as consistent UTF-8 encoding, HTTP-only cookies, input length control, and input validation. Users should apply these mitigations manually or upgrade to a patched version if available. [1]