CWE - CWE-82: Improper Neutralization of Script in Attributes of IMG Tags in a Web Page (4.4)

Weakness ID: 82

Abstraction: Variant
Structure: Simple

Status: Incomplete

Presentation Filter:

Description

The web application does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes scripting elements within attributes of HTML IMG tags, such as the src attribute.

Extended Description

Attackers can embed XSS exploits into the values for IMG attributes (e.g. SRC) that is streamed and then executed in a victim's browser. Note that when the page is loaded into a user's browsers, the exploit will automatically execute.

Relationships

The table(s) below shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOf and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that the user may want to explore.

Relevant to the view "Research Concepts" (CWE-1000)

Nature	Type	ID	Name
ChildOf	Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.	83	Improper Neutralization of Script in Attributes in a Web Page

Modes Of Introduction

The different Modes of Introduction provide information about how and when this weakness may be introduced. The Phase identifies a point in the life cycle at which introduction may occur, while the Note provides a typical scenario related to introduction during the given phase.

Phase	Note
Implementation

Applicable Platforms

The listings below show possible areas for which the given weakness could appear. These may be for specific named Languages, Operating Systems, Architectures, Paradigms, Technologies, or a class of such platforms. The platform is listed along with how frequently the given weakness appears for that instance.

Languages

Class: Language-Independent (Undetermined Prevalence)

Common Consequences

The table below specifies different individual consequences associated with the weakness. The Scope identifies the application security area that is violated, while the Impact describes the negative technical impact that arises if an adversary succeeds in exploiting this weakness. The Likelihood provides information about how likely the specific consequence is expected to be seen relative to the other consequences in the list. For example, there may be high likelihood that a weakness will be exploited to achieve a certain impact, but a low likelihood that it will be exploited to achieve a different impact.

Scope	Impact	Likelihood
Confidentiality Integrity Availability	Technical Impact: Read Application Data; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands

Observed Examples

Reference	Description
CVE-2006-3211	Stored XSS in a guestbook application using a javascript: URI in a bbcode img tag.
CVE-2002-1649	javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.
CVE-2002-1803	javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.
CVE-2002-1804	javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.
CVE-2002-1805	javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.
CVE-2002-1806	javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.
CVE-2002-1807	javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.
CVE-2002-1808	javascript URI scheme in IMG tag.

Potential Mitigations

Phase: Implementation

Strategy: Output Encoding

Use and specify an output encoding that can be handled by the downstream component that is reading the output. Common encodings include ISO-8859-1, UTF-7, and UTF-8. When an encoding is not specified, a downstream component may choose a different encoding, either by assuming a default encoding or automatically inferring which encoding is being used, which can be erroneous. When the encodings are inconsistent, the downstream component might treat some character or byte sequences as special, even if they are not special in the original encoding. Attackers might then be able to exploit this discrepancy and conduct injection attacks; they even might be able to bypass protection mechanisms that assume the original encoding is also being used by the downstream component.

The problem of inconsistent output encodings often arises in web pages. If an encoding is not specified in an HTTP header, web browsers often guess about which encoding is being used. This can open up the browser to subtle XSS attacks.

Phase: Implementation

Strategy: Attack Surface Reduction

To help mitigate XSS attacks against the user's session cookie, set the session cookie to be HttpOnly. In browsers that support the HttpOnly feature (such as more recent versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox), this attribute can prevent the user's session cookie from being accessible to malicious client-side scripts that use document.cookie. This is not a complete solution, since HttpOnly is not supported by all browsers. More importantly, XMLHTTPRequest and other powerful browser technologies provide read access to HTTP headers, including the Set-Cookie header in which the HttpOnly flag is set.

Effectiveness: Defense in Depth

Memberships

This MemberOf Relationships table shows additional CWE Categories and Views that reference this weakness as a member. This information is often useful in understanding where a weakness fits within the context of external information sources.

Nature	Type	ID	Name
MemberOf	Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	990	SFP Secondary Cluster: Tainted Input to Command

Taxonomy Mappings

Mapped Taxonomy Name	Node ID	Fit	Mapped Node Name
PLOVER			Script in IMG tags
Software Fault Patterns	SFP24		Tainted input to command

Content History

Submissions
Submission Date	Submitter	Organization
2006-07-19	PLOVER
2006-07-19
Modifications
Modification Date	Modifier	Organization
2008-07-01	Eric Dalci	Cigital
2008-07-01	updated Time_of_Introduction
2008-09-08	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008-09-08	updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2008-10-14	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008-10-14	updated Description
2009-05-27	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2009-05-27	updated Description, Name
2009-10-29	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2009-10-29	updated Relationships
2009-12-28	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2009-12-28	updated Observed_Examples
2010-06-21	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2010-06-21	updated Description, Name, Potential_Mitigations
2011-06-01	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2011-06-01	updated Common_Consequences
2012-05-11	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2012-05-11	updated Relationships
2012-10-30	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2012-10-30	updated Potential_Mitigations
2014-07-30	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2014-07-30	updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2017-05-03	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2017-05-03	updated Related_Attack_Patterns
2017-11-08	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2017-11-08	updated Applicable_Platforms
2020-02-24	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2020-02-24	updated Relationships
Previous Entry Names
Change Date	Previous Entry Name
2008-04-11	Script in IMG Tags

2009-05-27	Failure to Sanitize Script in Attributes of IMG Tags in a Web Page

2010-06-21	Improper Sanitization of Script in Attributes of IMG Tags in a Web Page


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Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-82: Improper Neutralization of Script in Attributes of IMG Tags in a Web Page