Title: Way to the Web TalkBack.cgi Directory Traversal Vulnerability
Severity: MODERATE
Description:
TalkBalk is a CGI script written by Way to the Web that allows website administrators to facilitate user feedback.
TalkBalk's primary script, talkbalk.cgi contains an input validation that can lead to the disclosure of arbitrary files to an attacker. During operation, talkback.cgi uses HTML variables to construct a filename to open. The script fails to check for '../' sequences and null bytes in the HTML variable. As a result, sequences such as
http://target/cgi-bin/talkback.cgi?article=../../../../etc/passwd%00&action=view&matchview=1
will, when supplied to the script, cause the server to display the contents of the /etc/passwd. It should be noted that the files will be read with the privileges of the webserver, which are usually those of user 'nobody'.
It is possible to use this vulnerability to disclose the source of talkback.cgi, which includes admin password information. The URL would resemble sequences similar to this:
http://target/cgi-bin/talkback.cgi?article=../cgi-bin/talkback.cgi%00&action=view&matchview=1
This attack may lead to the disclosure of sensitive information and may aid in the assistance of future attacks.
Affected Products:
- Way to the Web TalkBack 1.1.0
References:
- Way of the Web: TalkBack Product Homepage
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