CVE-2024-37031: Understanding the Stored XSS Vulnerability in Active Admin for Ruby on Rails and How to Patch It

In this deep dive, we will explore the details of CVE-2024-37031, a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability found in versions of the Active Admin framework (aka activeadmin) before 3.2.2 for Ruby on Rails. This vulnerability affects applications that allow users to create entities with arbitrary names, which sometimes can lead to a "dynamic form legends" issue. To address this vulnerability, developers should upgrade to either Active Admin 3.2.2 or 4...beta7.

The goal of this post is to provide an in-depth analysis of this specific vulnerability, how it can be exploited, and how to apply patches effectively to protect your Rails application. We will break down the vulnerability details, provide code snippets that will help illustrate the issue, and point you to relevant resources for further reading.

Vulnerability Details

CVE-2024-37031 refers to a stored XSS vulnerability in Active Admin, a popular administration framework for Ruby on Rails applications. The issue arises in certain situations where users can create entities, such as records, with arbitrary names to be later edited in forms. These forms may contain potentially malicious code that may exploit the vulnerability to perform unauthorized actions or inject malicious content.

Essentially, this stored XSS vulnerability is a type of input validation flaw that allows an attacker to store malicious scripts within form elements in the context of an authenticated user's session. When another user views the affected form, the stored script will be executed in the context of the viewing user's browser.

To illustrate the exploit, let's consider the following scenario

1. An application using the Active Admin framework permits users to create a new record with a custom name.

An attacker creates a new record with a name containing a malicious XSS payload

<script>alert('XSS')</script>

3. An unsuspecting user later views the new record within the application, triggering the stored XSS payload.

4. As a result, the malicious script is executed within the context of the user's browser, potentially leading to unauthorized actions, data exfiltration, or session hijacking.

To address this vulnerability, developers should upgrade their applications to activeadmin 3.2.2 or 4...beta7, which contain patches that add proper input validation and sanitization to user-generated content.

Patch Details

After updating to Active Admin 3.2.2 or 4...beta7, the problematic code will now have appropriate input validation checks in place. For example, here is a simplified snippet of how the updated code may look like:

def sanitize_input(input)
  # Code here that would sanitize and validate the input
end

@record = Record.new(name: sanitize_input(params[:name]))

By applying the above changes, you will ensure that any user-generated content stored in the application's database is properly sanitized and validated, effectively mitigating the risks associated with this stored XSS vulnerability.

For additional information on this vulnerability, be sure to check out the original sources

- CVE Details - CVE-2024-37031
- GitHub - Fixed Version 3.2.2 Release Notes
- GitHub - Fixed Version 4...beta7 Release Notes

Conclusion

The stored XSS vulnerability detailed above (CVE-2024-37031) affects Active Admin versions before 3.2.2 for Ruby on Rails applications, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts in certain scenarios. By upgrading to either activeadmin 3.2.2 or 4...beta7, developers can effectively address this issue and protect their application from potential exploits. By understanding the details of these vulnerabilities and keeping your applications up-to-date, you can better ensure the security of your users' data and overall application safety.

Timeline

Published on: 06/03/2024 06:15:10 UTC
Last modified on: 06/03/2024 14:46:24 UTC