[ISecAuditors Security Advisories] XSS in Oracle AS Portal 10g

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INTERNET SECURITY AUDITORS ALERT 2010-007

• Original release date: August 11th, 2010
• Last revised: May 1st, 2011
• Discovered by: Vicente Aguilera Diaz
• Severity: 5.0/10 (CVSS Base Scored)
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I. VULNERABILITY

XSS in Oracle Portal Database Access Descriptor

II. BACKGROUND

Oracle AS Portal is a Web-based application for building and deploying
portals. It provides a secure, manageable environment for accessing
and interacting with enterprise software services and information
resources.

III. DESCRIPTION

Has been detected a reflected XSS vulnerability in Oracle Application
Server, that allows the execution of arbitrary HTML/script code to be
executed in the context of the victim user's browser.

The code injection is done through the DAD name. A DAD (Database
Access Descriptor) is a set of values that specifies how a database
server should fulfill a HTTP request.

IV. PROOF OF CONCEPT

Original request:
http://<oracle-application-server>/portal/pls/<DAD>

Malicious request:
http://<oracle-application-server>/portal/pls/<XSS injection>

Example 1:
http://<oracle-application-server>/portal/pls/"<H1>XSS vulnerability<XSS

In this scenario, the attacker has the difficulty of being unable to
close the HTML tag because he's can not add the character "/" as part
of the code injection (DAD name). However, it is possible to generate
that character without appearing in the injection. Below is an example.

Example 2:
http://<oracle-application-server>/portal/pls/"<img src=""
onmouseover="document.body.innerHTML=String.fromCharCode(60,72,84,77,76,62,60,72,49,62,88,83,83,60,47,72,49,62,32,60,72,50,62,86,85,76,78,60,47,72,50,62);"><XSS

V. BUSINESS IMPACT

An attacker can execute arbitrary HTML or script code in a targeted
user's browser, this can leverage to steal sensitive information as
user credentials, personal data, etc.

VI. SYSTEMS AFFECTED

Tested in Oracle Application Server Portal (Oracle AS Portal) 10g,
version 10.1.2. Other versions may be affected too.

VII. SOLUTION

Install last CPU (Critical Patch Update).

VIII. REFERENCES

http://www.oracle.com
http://www.isecauditors.com

IX. CREDITS

This vulnerability has been discovered
by Vicente Aguilera Diaz (vaguilera (at) isecauditors (dot) com).

X. REVISION HISTORY

August 11, 2010: Initial release
May 01, 2011: Final revision

XI. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE

August 11, 2010: Discovered by Internet Security Auditors
August 11, 2010: Oracle contacted including PoC.
August 12, 2010: Oracle inform that will investigate
the vulnerability.
April 19, 2011: Oracle fixed the vulnerability in the
CPU (Critical Patch Update).
May 01, 2011: Sent to lists.

XII. LEGAL NOTICES

The information contained within this advisory is supplied "as-is"
with no warranties or guarantees of fitness of use or otherwise.
Internet Security Auditors accepts no responsibility for any damage
caused by the use or misuse of this information.

XIII. ABOUT

Internet Security Auditors is a Spain based leader in web application
testing, network security, penetration testing, security compliance
implementation and assessing. Our clients include some of the largest
companies in areas such as finance, telecommunications, insurance,
ITC, etc. We are vendor independent provider with a deep expertise
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