TYPO3-CORE-SA-2015-013: Multiple Cross-Site Scripting vulnerabilities in frontend

Categories: TYPO3 CMS Created by Nicole Cordes
It has been discovered, that TYPO3 is susceptible to Cross-Site Scripting

Component Type: TYPO3 CMS

Release Date: December 15, 2015

Vulnerable subcomponent: Frontend

Vulnerability Type: Cross-Site Scripting

Affected Versions: Versions 6.2.0 to 6.2.15, 7.0.0 to 7.6.0

Severity: Low

Suggested CVSS v2.0: AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:N/E:F/RL:O/RC:C

CVE: not assigned yet

Problem Description: Failing to properly encode editor input, several frontend components are susceptible to Cross-Site Scripting, allowing authenticated editors to inject arbitrary HTML.

Solution: Update to TYPO3 versions 6.2.16 or 7.6.1 that fix the problem described.

Important Note: Please pay attention that these fixes add default TypoScript settings. If you overwrite or delete the provided TypoScript for css_styled_content and/or fe_login make sure you add the htmlspecialchars function on your own. These are the TypoScript settings that need to be changed to apply proper HTML encoding to editor content:

plugin.tx_felogin_pi1 {
     welcomeHeader_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     welcomeMessage_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     successHeader_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     successMessage_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     logoutHeader_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     logoutMessage_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     errorHeader_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     errorMessage_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     forgotHeader_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     forgotMessage_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     forgotErrorMessage_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     forgotResetMessageEmailSentMessage_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     changePasswordNotValidMessage_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     changePasswordTooShortMessage_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     changePasswordNotEqualMessage_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     changePasswordHeader_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     changePasswordMessage_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     changePasswordDoneMessage_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
     cookieWarning_stdWrap {
         htmlSpecialChars = 1
     }
 }
 
 tt_content.table {
     20.innerStdWrap.parseFunc >
     20.innerStdWrap.htmlSpecialChars = 1
 }
 
 tt_content.bullets.20.split {
     1.parseFunc >
     1.htmlSpecialChars = 1
 
     2.parseFunc >
     2.htmlSpecialChars = 1
 }
 
 
 tt_content.image.20.1.altText {
     stripHtml >
     htmlSpecialChars = 1
 }
 
 tt_content.image.20.caption.1.1 {
     parseFunc >
     htmlSpecialChars = 1
 }
 

Please note, that in case editors were allowed to edit HTML in your particular installation, that you need to adapt the TypoScript to allow HTML input again. Be aware however that your editors will have full control over HTML, which equals to having permission to create HTML content elements.

Credits: Thanks to Nils Juenemann and the security team member Georg Ringer who discovered and reported the issues.

General Advice: Follow the recommendations that are given in the TYPO3 Security Guide. Please subscribe to the typo3-announce mailing list.

General Note: All security related code changes are tagged so that you can easily look them up on our review system.