Persistent XSS in OpenZ ERP Employee Module Enables Session Hijacking

Executive Summary

CVE-2020-37022 is a persistent cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in OpenZ ERP version 3.6.60, specifically in the Employee module's name and description parameters. Attackers with low privileges can inject malicious scripts via POST requests into these fields. The injected scripts persist in the application and execute when the affected employee profile is viewed, allowing attackers to hijack sessions, manipulate application modules, and potentially escalate privileges by targeting higher-level users. [2, 3, 4]

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can lead to session hijacking, persistent phishing attacks, redirection of users to malicious external sites, and manipulation of application modules within OpenZ ERP. Attackers can exploit it to escalate privileges by targeting managers or administrators, compromising the security and integrity of the ERP system and potentially causing unauthorized access and control over business processes. [2, 3, 4]

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability can be detected by testing the Employee module's POST requests, specifically targeting the 'inpname' and 'inpdescription' parameters in the menu.html file. You can attempt to inject benign script tags or payloads into these parameters via POST requests during employee profile add, register, or edit operations and then observe if the script executes when viewing the affected employee profile. For example, using curl to send a POST request with a test script payload to the vulnerable endpoint can help detect the vulnerability. Example command: curl -X POST -d "inpname=<script>alert('XSS')</script>&inpdescription=test" https://your-openz-erp-instance/employee_add_or_edit_endpoint. Monitoring the application response for script execution or unexpected behavior indicates the presence of the vulnerability. [2, 4]

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Mitigation Strategies

Immediate mitigation steps include restricting or disabling the ability for low-privileged users to submit input to the 'inpname' and 'inpdescription' fields in the Employee module, applying input validation and sanitization to neutralize script code in these parameters, and updating or patching the OpenZ ERP software to a version where this vulnerability is fixed. Additionally, monitoring and reviewing employee profile inputs for suspicious script content and educating users about the risk can help reduce exploitation. If a patch is not available, consider implementing web application firewall (WAF) rules to block malicious payloads targeting these parameters. [3, 4]

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