IMPORTANT:AttackDefense Labs is included with a Pentester Academy subscription! Upgrade Now to access over 1800+ Labs.

Already a Pentester Academy student? Your access will continue uninterrupted. Please use the same Google account to login here.

Not a Pentester Academy student? Try our Free Communitiy Labs

PluXml Stored XSS (CVE-2021-38603)

cve-2021 | Level: Easy  | Total Lab Runs: 0 | Premium Lab

Lab Scoreboard

What is PluXml?


As stated on its website, PluXml is a blog / CMS. It uses XML instead of an SQL database to store its data. It is a highly customizable and high-performant CMS.


Note: The image is taken for the translated version of the website to make it more accessible to the non-French speaking audience.


Reference: https://pluxml.org/


What is CVE-2021-38603?


PluXML 5.8.7 allows core/admin/profil.php stored XSS via the Information field.


The base score assigned to this XSS vulnerability is 4.8 (MEDIUM).


Reference: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-38603


In this lab, we will learn to exploit an authenticated stored cross-site scripting vulnerability (CVE-2021-38603) in the PluXml CMS by altering the information field in the profile page to inject arbitrary Javascript.


Lab Environment


In this lab environment, the user is going to get access to a Kali GUI instance. A vulnerable instance of the PluXml CMS is hosted on the target server. It can be accessed using the tools installed on Kali at http://demo.ine.local.


Objective: Leverage the stored XSS vulnerability in the information field of the profile page of PluXml CMS using the credentials of the admin user provided below.


User Information


Use the following credentials to access PluXml's admin panel:


Username

Password

admin

bzqtYZ7EbskJ39k


Instructions:

  • This lab is dedicated to you! No other users are on this network :) 

  • Once you start the lab, you will have access to a root terminal of a Kali instance

  • Your Kali has an interface with IP address 192.X.Y.Z. Run "ip addr" to know the values of X and Y.

  • The target server should be located at the IP address 192.X.Y.3. It can be accessed using the hostname demo.ine.local

  • Do not attack the gateway located at IP address 192.X.Y.1

The following activities are strictly prohibited on this website unless otherwise explicitly stated as allowed in the mission statement:

  • Using automated scanners
  • Using brute force attacks
  • Denial of Service attacks
  • Attacking other student machines in challenges where you might achieve a shell on the vulnerable system
  • Attacking the lab infrastructure

Users violating the above will be either temporarily or permanently banned from the website. 

If you are unsure about an activity, then please contact support to confirm that it is allowed on our website.

Technical Support for this Lab:

There is a reason we provide unlimited lab time: you can take as much time as you need to solve a lab. However, we realize that sometimes hints might be necessary to keep you motivated!

We currently provide technical support limited to:

  • Giving hints for a lab exercise
  • In rare circumstances, if you have totally given up (NO!!!) then tell you how to solve it. This will be limited to sharing the solution video or lab report
  • A lab exercise fails to load or has errors in it

If you need technical support, please email  attackdefense@pentesteracademy.com  clearly mention the name and link of the lab exercise and other essential details. The more descriptive you are, the faster we can help you. We will get back to you within 24 hours or less. 

For adminitrative queries, billing, enterprise accounts etc. please email feedback@binarysecuritysolutions.com