Administrator session hijacking via unescaped request path
Published Sep 1, 2021 · Updated May 5, 2025
Reflected XSS in Noah Kagan underConstruction 1.18 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute JavaScript through a crafted request path. The ucOptions.php settings form places the unescaped $GLOBALS['PHP_SELF'] value in its action attribute, returning path data as executable markup. Exploitation requires Apache with modPHP or a similarly configured server and an administrator to open the crafted URL; the script runs in that administrator's session and can take over the site.
Summary
What happened
Reflected XSS in Noah Kagan underConstruction 1.18 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute JavaScript through a crafted request path. The ucOptions.php settings form places the unescaped $GLOBALS['PHP_SELF'] value in its action attribute, returning path data as executable markup. Exploitation requires Apache with modPHP or a similarly configured server and an administrator to open the crafted URL; the script runs in that administrator's session and can take over the site.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-39320
- Published
- Sep 1, 2021
- Updated
- May 5, 2025
- Vendor
- Noah Kagan
- Product
- underConstruction
- Classifications
- CWE-79, T1059.007
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 1, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 5, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=1.18 <=1.18
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- PHP_SELFish Part 1 reflected XSS demonstrationproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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