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Cross-site Scripting occurrences in Http Server
lxml is a library for processing XML and HTML in the Python language. Prior to version 4.6.5, the HTML Cleaner in lxml.html lets certain crafted script content pass through, as well as script content in SVG files embedded using data URIs. Users that employ the HTML cleaner in a security relevant context should upgrade to lxml 4.6.5 to receive a patch. There are no known workarounds available. (2021-12-13, CVE-2021-43818)
A vulnerability was found in Hibernate-Validator. The SafeHtml validator annotation fails to properly sanitize payloads consisting of potentially malicious code in HTML comments and instructions. This vulnerability can result in an XSS attack. (2019-11-08, CVE-2019-10219)
In Apache HTTP Server 2.4.0-2.4.39, a limited cross-site scripting issue was reported affecting the mod_proxy error page. An attacker could cause the link on the error page to be malformed and instead point to a page of their choice. This would only be exploitable where a server was set up with proxying enabled but was misconfigured in such a way that the Proxy Error page was displayed. (2019-09-26, CVE-2019-10092)
Why Cross-site Scripting can be dangerous
Cross site scripting is an attack where a web page executes code that is injected by an adversary. It usually appears, when users input is presented. This attack can be used to impersonate a user, take over control of the session, or even steal API keys.
The attack can be executed e.g. when you application injects the request parameter directly into the HTML code of the page returned to the user:
https://server.com/confirmation?message=Transaction+Complete
what results in:
<span>Confirmation: Transaction Complete</span>
In that case the message can be modified to become a valid Javascript code, e.g.:
https://server.com/confirmation?message=<script>dangerous javascript code here</script>
and it will be executed locally by the user's browser with full access to the user's personal application/browser data:
<span>Confirmation: <script>dangerous javascript code here</script></span>