Fix XSS vulnerability by sanitizing the 'search' parameter using 'htmlspecialchars' in PHP.

[zeropath-ai-dev]

Summary

• The Vulnerability Description: The application directly echoes the unsanitized GET parameter 'search', leading to a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability. This allows an attacker to inject and execute malicious JavaScript code within the client's browser, potentially resulting in session hijacking or webpage defacement.
• This Fix: The patch sanitizes the 'search' parameter using the htmlspecialchars() function, which converts special characters to HTML entities, preventing the execution of injected scripts in the client's browser.
• The Cause of the Issue: The root cause was the lack of input sanitization when outputting the user-controlled 'search' parameter, allowing direct insertion of malicious code that could be executed in the client's browser.
• The Patch Implementation: Replaced the direct echo statement with htmlspecialchars($_GET["search"], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') to properly escape harmful characters, ensuring safe output by converting characters like < and > into HTML entities.

Vulnerability Details

• Vulnerability Class: Cross Site Scripting (XSS)
• Severity: 5.3
• Affected File: index.php
• Vulnerable Lines: 3-3

Code Snippets

diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index 1424a87..7a8abb2 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <?php
 
-echo "<p>" +$_GET["search"] + "</p>";
+echo "<p>" . htmlspecialchars($_GET["search"], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') . "</p>";
 
 ?>

How to Modify the Patch

You can modify this patch by using one of the two methods outlined below. We recommend using the @zeropath-ai-dev bot for updating the code. If you encounter any bugs or issues with the patch, please report them here.

Ask @zeropath-ai-dev!

To request modifications, please post a comment beginning with @zeropath-ai-dev and specify the changes required.

@zeropath-ai-dev will then implement the requested adjustments and commit them to the specified branch in this pull request. Our bot is capable of managing changes across multiple files and various development-related requests.

Manually Modify the Files

# Checkout created branch:
git checkout zvuln_fix_cross_site_scripting_xss_1735628942824300

# if vscode is installed run (or use your favorite editor / IDE):
code index.php

# Add, commit, and push changes:
git add -A
git commit -m "Update generated patch with x, y, and z changes."
git push zvuln_fix_cross_site_scripting_xss_1735628942824300