A recent vulnerability (CVE-2024-56314) has been discovered in REDCap, which is a popular web-based platform used by researchers to create, manage and share data. This vulnerability has been found affecting versions up to 14.9.6 and allows authenticated users to inject malicious scripts into the name field of a project. When another user clicks the infected project name, the payload is executed, thus potentially enabling the execution of arbitrary web scripts.
Code Snippet: The Vulnerability
The vulnerability arises from the fact that the project name is not properly sanitized and escaped before being used in an HTML context. A simple JavaScript payload can be crafted and injected into the project name field, as below:
<script>alert('XSS')</script>
When another user clicks on the project name, the injected script will be executed, and an alert with "XSS" will be displayed.
In the project name field, enter the following payload
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Impact
The impact of this vulnerability is significant, as it can enable the execution of arbitrary web scripts by manipulating the project name field. This can lead to various problems such as:
Compromising user accounts and potentially allowing unauthorized access to sensitive data.
- Delivering a malicious payload to other users' browsers, which could enable further attacks and exploitation.
To remediate this vulnerability, it is highly recommended to follow these actions
1. Update your REDCap installation to the latest version, as it is likely that future releases will include a patch or fix for this issue.
2. Ensure that user input, including the project name field, is properly sanitized and escaped before being used in an HTML context. This can help prevent code injection attacks and ensure the safety of your application.
For further information about this vulnerability, you can refer to the original CVE-2024-56314 entry (https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-56314) as well as the National Vulnerability Database (https://nvd.nist.gov/). You can also find more details and possible solutions by following industry best practices for preventing cross-site scripting and related attacks, such as those provided by OWASP (https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/xss/).
Conclusion
CVE-2024-56314 is a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability present in the project name field of REDCap through version 14.9.6. Authenticated users can inject malicious scripts into the project names, allowing for potential execution of arbitrary web scripts. To ensure the safety and security of your REDCap installation, it is highly recommended to update to the latest version, sanitize and escape user input properly, and adhere to industry best practices for preventing XSS attacks.
Timeline
Published on: 12/22/2024 22:15:06 UTC
Last modified on: 03/17/2025 17:15:34 UTC