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Introduction: What is CVE-2022-39026?

CVE-2022-39026 is a serious web security vulnerability found in the U-Office Force UserDefault page. This flaw happens because the application doesn’t properly filter special characters in HTTP header fields. As a result, attackers with normal user accounts can sneak in dangerous JavaScript code, causing a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) attack. In simple terms: malicious code gets stored in the app, runs in other users’ browsers, and can do anything from stealing cookies to hijacking accounts.

Why You Should Care

Stored XSS is one of the most dangerous types of web attacks. Unlike reflected XSS (which only impacts someone if they click a bad link), stored XSS means the evil script gets permanently saved somewhere in the app – such as user profiles, forums, or system messages. This means every user who visits that infected part of the app might get attacked.

If you use U-Office Force, this vulnerability could let an internal attacker (regular user, not needing admin rights) carry out powerful attacks against your team or organization.

To understand CVE-2022-39026, let’s break down the issue step by step

1. Page Vulnerability: U-Office Force’s UserDefault page gets data from HTTP header fields (such as User-Agent, Referer, or Custom headers) and reflects it into the HTML response.
2. Poor Filtering: The web application does not properly filter or escape special characters, especially <, >, ', ", and / – the ones used in HTML and JavaScript.
3. Attacker Leverage: An attacker with a general user account can set a custom HTTP header (e.g., via a proxy tool like Burp Suite or even directly from some browsers/extensions). He can put JavaScript code inside this header.
4. Stored XSS: The malicious script is saved, for example, in logs, user info, or notifications. When another user (or admin) views the affected page, the JavaScript executes in their browser context.

Step 1: The Attacker Sends a Specially Crafted HTTP Request

GET /user_default HTTP/1.1
Host: victim.com
User-Agent: <script>alert('XSS PWNED!');</script>
Cookie: SESSIONID=abcd1234
...

You can use Burp Suite or OWASP ZAP to intercept a normal request and modify the User-Agent header to include the payload above.

Step 2: The Malicious Data Gets Stored

If the UserDefault page, or any backend process, stores the header value in a database or log that is later shown on a web page *without filtering*, the payload gets saved.

Step 3: Another User Opens the Page

When any other user (or admin) opens the UserDefault page, the app reads the value and inserts it into the page. For example:

<div>User’s Last Device: <script>alert('XSS PWNED!');</script></div>

The browser will run the <script> tag as real code! This could do anything the user can do: redirect, extract session cookies, change settings, or pivot to more attacks.

`html

alert('XSS');

Visit any page that lists or references devices, accesses logs, or displays user activity.

*If you see a popup alert*, you are vulnerable to CVE-2022-39026.

Always Filter or Escape Special Characters

For every piece of user-controllable data that gets rendered into a web page (including HTTP headers!), use HTML escaping. In Python, Java, and PHP there are standard libraries for this.

Update Your Software

- Check with U-Office Force (official site) and apply any patches relating to CVE-2022-39026.

References

- NVD CVE-2022-39026 Details
- Explained: How XSS Attacks Work (OWASP)
- Burp Suite: Testing XSS

Final Thoughts

CVE-2022-39026 is a perfect example of why *every* data input – even weird places like HTTP headers – must be considered untrusted. Even regular users could exploit this flaw to take control of other accounts or compromise your entire network. Always sanitize, update, and monitor your web apps for these common yet dangerous mistakes!

If you run U-Office Force, patch now, and consider a review of how your software handles all user-supplied input — including those sneaky HTTP headers.


*Stay safe and always test your apps for XSS vulnerabilities!*

Timeline

Published on: 10/31/2022 07:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 10/31/2022 17:47:00 UTC