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Cross-site Scripting in Apache Struts

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published May 14, 2022 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Feb 1, 2023

Package

maven org.apache.struts:struts2-core (Maven)

Affected versions

< 2.3.20

Patched versions

2.3.20

Description

When the Struts2 debug mode is turned on, under certain conditions an arbitrary script may be executed in the 'Problem Report' screen. Also if JSP files are exposed to be accessed directly it's possible to execute an arbitrary script.

It is generally not advisable to have debug mode switched on outside of the development environment. Debug mode should always be turned off in production setup. Also never expose JSPs files directly and hide them inside WEB-INF folder or define dedicated security constraints to block access to raw JSP files.

Struts >= 2.3.20 is not vulnerable to this attack. We recommend upgrading to Struts 2.3.20 or higher.

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database Sep 25, 2017
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database May 14, 2022
Reviewed Nov 3, 2022
Last updated Feb 1, 2023

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

EPSS score

0.481%
(76th percentile)

Weaknesses

CVE ID

CVE-2015-5169

GHSA ID

GHSA-vwhv-j36g-5rm8

Source code

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