Vulnerabilities > CVE-2020-12137 - Cross-site Scripting vulnerability in multiple products

047910
CVSS 6.1 - MEDIUM
Attack vector
NETWORK
Attack complexity
LOW
Privileges required
NONE
Confidentiality impact
LOW
Integrity impact
LOW
Availability impact
NONE
network
low complexity
gnu
debian
fedoraproject
canonical
opensuse
CWE-79
nessus
NVD
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2024-11-21

Summary

GNU Mailman 2.x before 2.1.30 uses the .obj extension for scrubbed application/octet-stream MIME parts. This behavior may contribute to XSS attacks against list-archive visitors, because an HTTP reply from an archive web server may lack a MIME type, and a web browser may perform MIME sniffing, conclude that the MIME type should have been text/html, and execute JavaScript code.

Vulnerable Configurations

Part Description Count
Application
Gnu
76
Application
Opensuse
1
OS
Debian
3
OS
Fedoraproject
2
OS
Canonical
2
OS
Opensuse
1

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • Cross Site Scripting through Log Files
    An attacker may leverage a system weakness where logs are susceptible to log injection to insert scripts into the system's logs. If these logs are later viewed by an administrator through a thin administrative interface and the log data is not properly HTML encoded before being written to the page, the attackers' scripts stored in the log will be executed in the administrative interface with potentially serious consequences. This attack pattern is really a combination of two other attack patterns: log injection and stored cross site scripting.
  • Embedding Scripts in Non-Script Elements
    This attack is a form of Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) where malicious scripts are embedded in elements that are not expected to host scripts such as image tags (<img>), comments in XML documents (< !-CDATA->), etc. These tags may not be subject to the same input validation, output validation, and other content filtering and checking routines, so this can create an opportunity for an attacker to tunnel through the application's elements and launch a XSS attack through other elements. As with all remote attacks, it is important to differentiate the ability to launch an attack (such as probing an internal network for unpatched servers) and the ability of the remote attacker to collect and interpret the output of said attack.
  • Embedding Scripts within Scripts
    An attack of this type exploits a programs' vulnerabilities that are brought on by allowing remote hosts to execute scripts. The attacker leverages this capability to execute scripts to execute his/her own script by embedding it within other scripts that the target software is likely to execute. The attacker must have the ability to inject script into script that is likely to be executed. If this is done, then the attacker can potentially launch a variety of probes and attacks against the web server's local environment, in many cases the so-called DMZ, back end resources the web server can communicate with, and other hosts. With the proliferation of intermediaries, such as Web App Firewalls, network devices, and even printers having JVMs and Web servers, there are many locales where an attacker can inject malicious scripts. Since this attack pattern defines scripts within scripts, there are likely privileges to execute said attack on the host. Of course, these attacks are not solely limited to the server side, client side scripts like Ajax and client side JavaScript can contain malicious scripts as well. In general all that is required is for there to be sufficient privileges to execute a script, but not protected against writing.
  • Cross-Site Scripting in Error Pages
    An attacker distributes a link (or possibly some other query structure) with a request to a third party web server that is malformed and also contains a block of exploit code in order to have the exploit become live code in the resulting error page. When the third party web server receives the crafted request and notes the error it then creates an error message that echoes the malformed message, including the exploit. Doing this converts the exploit portion of the message into to valid language elements that are executed by the viewing browser. When a victim executes the query provided by the attacker the infected error message error message is returned including the exploit code which then runs in the victim's browser. XSS can result in execution of code as well as data leakage (e.g. session cookies can be sent to the attacker). This type of attack is especially dangerous since the exploit appears to come from the third party web server, who the victim may trust and hence be more vulnerable to deception.
  • Cross-Site Scripting Using Alternate Syntax
    The attacker uses alternate forms of keywords or commands that result in the same action as the primary form but which may not be caught by filters. For example, many keywords are processed in a case insensitive manner. If the site's web filtering algorithm does not convert all tags into a consistent case before the comparison with forbidden keywords it is possible to bypass filters (e.g., incomplete black lists) by using an alternate case structure. For example, the "script" tag using the alternate forms of "Script" or "ScRiPt" may bypass filters where "script" is the only form tested. Other variants using different syntax representations are also possible as well as using pollution meta-characters or entities that are eventually ignored by the rendering engine. The attack can result in the execution of otherwise prohibited functionality.

Nessus

  • NASL familyDebian Local Security Checks
    NASL idDEBIAN_DSA-4664.NASL
    descriptionHanno Boeck discovered that it was possible to create a cross site scripting attack on the webarchives of the Mailman mailing list manager, by sending a special type of attachement.
    last seen2020-05-03
    modified2020-04-27
    plugin id135984
    published2020-04-27
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/135984
    titleDebian DSA-4664-1 : mailman - security update
    code
    #
# (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
#
# The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were  
# extracted from Debian Security Advisory DSA-4664. The text 
# itself is copyright (C) Software in the Public Interest, Inc.
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(135984);
  script_version("1.3");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2020/04/30");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2020-12137");
  script_xref(name:"DSA", value:"4664");

  script_name(english:"Debian DSA-4664-1 : mailman - security update");
  script_summary(english:"Checks dpkg output for the updated package");

  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"synopsis", 
    value:"The remote Debian host is missing a security-related update."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"description", 
    value:
"Hanno Boeck discovered that it was possible to create a cross site
scripting attack on the webarchives of the Mailman mailing list
manager, by sending a special type of attachement."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"see_also",
    value:"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/source-package/mailman"
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"see_also",
    value:"https://packages.debian.org/source/stretch/mailman"
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"see_also",
    value:"https://packages.debian.org/source/buster/mailman"
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"see_also",
    value:"https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4664"
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"solution", 
    value:
"Upgrade the mailman packages.

For the oldstable distribution (stretch), this problem has been fixed
in version 1:2.1.23-1+deb9u5.

For the stable distribution (buster), this problem has been fixed in
version 1:2.1.29-1+deb10u1."
  );
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:OF/RC:C");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N");
  script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2020-12137");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:mailman");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:10.0");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:9.0");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2020/04/24");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2020/04/26");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2020/04/27");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");
  script_family(english:"Debian Local Security Checks");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl");
  script_require_keys("Host/local_checks_enabled", "Host/Debian/release", "Host/Debian/dpkg-l");

  exit(0);
}


include("audit.inc");
include("debian_package.inc");


if (!get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled")) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
if (!get_kb_item("Host/Debian/release")) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Debian");
if (!get_kb_item("Host/Debian/dpkg-l")) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);


flag = 0;
if (deb_check(release:"10.0", prefix:"mailman", reference:"1:2.1.29-1+deb10u1")) flag++;
if (deb_check(release:"9.0", prefix:"mailman", reference:"1:2.1.23-1+deb9u5")) flag++;

if (flag)
{
  if (report_verbosity > 0) security_warning(port:0, extra:deb_report_get());
  else security_warning(0);
  exit(0);
}
else audit(AUDIT_HOST_NOT, "affected");
  • NASL familyFedora Local Security Checks
    NASL idFEDORA_2020-69F2F1D987.NASL
    descriptionNew version v2.1.30 Security fix for CVE-2020-12137 Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-05-19
    modified2020-05-14
    plugin id136593
    published2020-05-14
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/136593
    titleFedora 31 : 3:mailman (2020-69f2f1d987)
    code
    #
# (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
#
# The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were  
# extracted from Fedora Security Advisory FEDORA-2020-69f2f1d987.
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(136593);
  script_version("1.2");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2020/05/18");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2020-12137");
  script_xref(name:"FEDORA", value:"2020-69f2f1d987");

  script_name(english:"Fedora 31 : 3:mailman (2020-69f2f1d987)");
  script_summary(english:"Checks rpm output for the updated package.");

  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"synopsis", 
    value:"The remote Fedora host is missing a security update."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"description", 
    value:
"New version v2.1.30 Security fix for CVE-2020-12137

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding
description block directly from the Fedora update system website.
Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as
possible without introducing additional issues."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"see_also",
    value:"https://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/FEDORA-2020-69f2f1d987"
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"solution", 
    value:"Update the affected 3:mailman package."
  );
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:OF/RC:C");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N");
  script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:fedoraproject:fedora:3:mailman");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:31");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2020/04/24");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2020/05/14");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2020/05/14");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");
  script_family(english:"Fedora Local Security Checks");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl");
  script_require_keys("Host/local_checks_enabled", "Host/RedHat/release", "Host/RedHat/rpm-list");

  exit(0);
}


include("audit.inc");
include("global_settings.inc");
include("rpm.inc");


if (!get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled")) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
release = get_kb_item("Host/RedHat/release");
if (isnull(release) || "Fedora" >!< release) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Fedora");
os_ver = pregmatch(pattern: "Fedora.*release ([0-9]+)", string:release);
if (isnull(os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_APP_VER, "Fedora");
os_ver = os_ver[1];
if (! preg(pattern:"^31([^0-9]|$)", string:os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Fedora 31", "Fedora " + os_ver);

if (!get_kb_item("Host/RedHat/rpm-list")) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);


cpu = get_kb_item("Host/cpu");
if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH);
if ("x86_64" >!< cpu && cpu !~ "^i[3-6]86$") audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, "Fedora", cpu);


flag = 0;
if (rpm_check(release:"FC31", reference:"mailman-2.1.30-1.fc31", epoch:"3")) flag++;


if (flag)
{
  security_report_v4(
    port       : 0,
    severity   : SECURITY_WARNING,
    extra      : rpm_report_get()
  );
  exit(0);
}
else
{
  tested = pkg_tests_get();
  if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested);
  else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "3:mailman");
}
  • NASL familyUbuntu Local Security Checks
    NASL idUBUNTU_USN-4348-1.NASL
    descriptionIt was discovered that Mailman incorrectly handled certain inputs. An attacker could possibly use this to issue execute arbitrary scripts or HTML. (CVE-2018-0618) It was discovered that Mailman incorrectly handled certain inputs. An attacker could possibly use this issue to display arbitrary text on a web page. (CVE-2018-13796) It was discovered that Mailman incorrectly handled certain files. An attacker could possibly use this issue to execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2020-12137). Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-05-06
    modified2020-04-30
    plugin id136173
    published2020-04-30
    reporterUbuntu Security Notice (C) 2020 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/136173
    titleUbuntu 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS : mailman vulnerabilities (USN-4348-1)
    code
    #
# (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
#
# The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were
# extracted from Ubuntu Security Notice USN-4348-1. The text 
# itself is copyright (C) Canonical, Inc. See 
# <http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/>. Ubuntu(R) is a registered 
# trademark of Canonical, Inc.
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(136173);
  script_version("1.2");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2020/05/04");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2018-0618", "CVE-2018-13796", "CVE-2020-12137");
  script_xref(name:"USN", value:"4348-1");

  script_name(english:"Ubuntu 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS : mailman vulnerabilities (USN-4348-1)");
  script_summary(english:"Checks dpkg output for updated package.");

  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"synopsis", 
    value:"The remote Ubuntu host is missing a security-related patch."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"description", 
    value:
"It was discovered that Mailman incorrectly handled certain inputs. An
attacker could possibly use this to issue execute arbitrary scripts or
HTML. (CVE-2018-0618)

It was discovered that Mailman incorrectly handled certain inputs. An
attacker could possibly use this issue to display arbitrary text on a
web page. (CVE-2018-13796)

It was discovered that Mailman incorrectly handled certain files. An
attacker could possibly use this issue to execute arbitrary code.
(CVE-2020-12137).

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding
description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable
has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible
without introducing additional issues."
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"see_also",
    value:"https://usn.ubuntu.com/4348-1/"
  );
  script_set_attribute(
    attribute:"solution", 
    value:"Update the affected mailman package."
  );
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:OF/RC:C");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N");
  script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2020-12137");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:mailman");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2018/07/12");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2020/04/29");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2020/04/30");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_copyright(english:"Ubuntu Security Notice (C) 2020 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");
  script_family(english:"Ubuntu Local Security Checks");

  script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl");
  script_require_keys("Host/cpu", "Host/Ubuntu", "Host/Ubuntu/release", "Host/Debian/dpkg-l");

  exit(0);
}


include("audit.inc");
include("ubuntu.inc");
include("misc_func.inc");

if ( ! get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled") ) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
release = get_kb_item("Host/Ubuntu/release");
if ( isnull(release) ) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Ubuntu");
release = chomp(release);
if (! preg(pattern:"^(16\.04|18\.04)$", string:release)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Ubuntu 16.04 / 18.04", "Ubuntu " + release);
if ( ! get_kb_item("Host/Debian/dpkg-l") ) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);

cpu = get_kb_item("Host/cpu");
if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH);
if ("x86_64" >!< cpu && cpu !~ "^i[3-6]86$") audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, "Ubuntu", cpu);

flag = 0;

if (ubuntu_check(osver:"16.04", pkgname:"mailman", pkgver:"1:2.1.20-1ubuntu0.4")) flag++;
if (ubuntu_check(osver:"18.04", pkgname:"mailman", pkgver:"1:2.1.26-1ubuntu0.1")) flag++;

if (flag)
{
  security_report_v4(
    port       : 0,
    severity   : SECURITY_WARNING,
    extra      : ubuntu_report_get()
  );
  exit(0);
}
else
{
  tested = ubuntu_pkg_tests_get();
  if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested);
  else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "mailman");
}
  • NASL familySuSE Local Security Checks
    NASL idSUSE_SU-2020-1301-1.NASL
    descriptionThis update for mailman fixes the following issues : Security issue fixed : CVE-2020-12108: Fixed a content injection bug (bsc#1171363). CVE-2020-12137: Fixed a XSS vulnerability caused by MIME type confusion (bsc#1170558). Non-security issue fixed : Fixed rights and ownership on /var/lib/mailman/archives (bsc#1167068). Don
    last seen2020-05-31
    modified2020-05-22
    plugin id136794
    published2020-05-22
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/136794
    titleSUSE SLES12 Security Update : mailman (SUSE-SU-2020:1301-1)
  • NASL familyDebian Local Security Checks
    NASL idDEBIAN_DLA-2200.NASL
    descriptionA vulnerability was discovered in mailman. GNU Mailman 2.x before 2.1.30 uses the .obj extension for scrubbed application/octet-stream MIME parts. This behavior may contribute to XSS attacks against list-archive visitors, because an HTTP reply from an archive web server may lack a MIME type, and a web browser may perform MIME sniffing, conclude that the MIME type should have been text/html, and execute JavaScript code. For Debian 8
    last seen2020-05-08
    modified2020-05-04
    plugin id136290
    published2020-05-04
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/136290
    titleDebian DLA-2200-1 : mailman security update

References