CVE-2024-48396: Reflected XSS in Popular AI Chatbot Web Application
Background
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized numerous industries with advanced data processing capabilities and automated complex tasks that traditionally required human intelligence. AI chatbots leverage natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to understand and respond to user inputs, providing a user-friendly interface for real-time communication and support.
AI chatbots are particularly prominent on platforms like GitHub, where developers post AI chatbot projects they’ve worked on. These bots can handle everything from customer queries to complex troubleshooting, making them invaluable tools for enhancing user experience and operational efficiency.
Introduction
This blog post demonstrates a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in a popular AI chatbot application hosted on GitHub. The product is AIML Chatbot v1.0, and the vulnerability was fixed in 2.0. Identifying this vulnerability involved testing and analysis of the chatbot’s handling of user inputs, particularly how it reflects inputs back to the user without proper sanitization.
Detailed Description of Vulnerability
The vulnerability exploits the chatbot application’s inadequate input handling mechanisms. When a user submits HTML or Javascript code as part of their query, the chatbot incorrectly echoes the script back in its response without sanitization. This flaw allows malicious scripts to be executed in the victim’s browser, leading to potential data theft, session hijacking, redirecting, and other security issues.
Exploitation Scenario:
- A user inputs a malicious script encapsulated in what appears to be a benign query.
- The chatbot processes the query and erroneously includes the script in its response.
- The script executes in the user’s browser, compromising their session or stealing their data.
Proof of Concept
To demonstrate this vulnerability, consider a scenario where the attacker sends a message to the chatbot containing a script, such as <script>alert(1);</script>. The chatbot, failing to sanitize this input, reflects the script in its response. As a result, any user viewing the chatbot's response will see an alert pop up, confirming the script execution.
Possible Remediation
Addressing this vulnerability involves implementing several key security practices:
- Input Sanitization: Ensure that all user inputs are sanitized before being processed or echoed back by the chatbot. This prevents malicious scripts from being executed.
- Content Security Policy (CSP): Use CSP to restrict the sources from which scripts can be loaded, effectively reducing the risk of XSS attacks.
- Escaping User Input: Escape user input, ensuring that special characters do not trigger script execution.
Further Reading & Resources
- OWASP XSS Prevention Cheat Sheet
- Mozilla Developer Network — Content Security Policy (CSP)
- IEEE Explore — Recent Advances in AI Security
