#VU32785 Cross-site scripting in Python - CVE-2011-4940

Vulnerability identifier: #VU32785

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 1.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2011-4940

CWE-ID: CWE-79

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Python
Universal components / Libraries / Scripting languages

Vendor: Python.org

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.

The vulnerability exists due to insufficient sanitization of user-supplied data when processing data passed via UTF-7 encoding. A remote attacker can trick the victim to follow a specially crafted link and execute arbitrary HTML and script code in user's browser in context of vulnerable website.

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may allow a remote attacker to steal potentially sensitive information, change appearance of the web page, perform phishing and drive-by-download attacks.

Mitigation
The vendor has issued the following versions to address this vulnerability: 2.6.7, 2.7.2.

Vulnerable software versions

Python: 2.5.0 - 2.5.150, 2.6.0 - 2.6.6, 2.7.0 - 2.7.1

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External links
https://bugs.python.org/issue11442
https://jvn.jp/en/jp/JVN51176027/index.html
https://jvndb.jvn.jp/jvndb/JVNDB-2012-000063
https://secunia.com/advisories/50858
https://secunia.com/advisories/51024
https://secunia.com/advisories/51040
https://www.securityfocus.com/bid/54083
https://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1592-1
https://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1596-1
https://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1613-1
https://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1613-2
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=803500

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.