This article is a part of our Vulnerability Database (back to index)
Cross-site Scripting occurrences in Opengear
Opengear console server firmware releases prior to 4.5.0 have a stored XSS vulnerability related to serial port logging. If a malicious user of an external system (connected to a serial port on an Opengear console server) sends crafted text to a serial port (that has logging enabled), the text will be replayed when the logs are viewed. Exploiting this vulnerability requires access to the serial port and/or console server. (2019-07-31, CVE-2019-14456)
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>