DVWA Series - XSS (Stored)

This is a writeup on the XSS (Store) challenges on DVWA(Damn Vulnerable Web App). Let's start.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T PROMOTE THE USE OF THIS CODE IN A MALICIOUS WAY. HACKING DONE MUST BE DONE LEGALLY WITH CONSENT.

Low

<?php

if( isset( $_POST[ 'btnSign' ] ) ) {
    // Get input
    $message = trim( $_POST[ 'mtxMessage' ] );
    $name    = trim( $_POST[ 'txtName' ] );

    // Sanitize message input
    $message = stripslashes( $message );
    $message = ((isset($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"]) && is_object($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"])) ? mysqli_real_escape_string($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"],  $message ) : ((trigger_error("[MySQLConverterToo] Fix the mysql_escape_string() call! This code does not work.", E_USER_ERROR)) ? "" : ""));

    // Sanitize name input
    $name = ((isset($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"]) && is_object($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"])) ? mysqli_real_escape_string($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"],  $name ) : ((trigger_error("[MySQLConverterToo] Fix the mysql_escape_string() call! This code does not work.", E_USER_ERROR)) ? "" : ""));

    // Update database
    $query  = "INSERT INTO guestbook ( comment, name ) VALUES ( '$message', '$name' );";
    $result = mysqli_query($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"],  $query ) or die( '<pre>' . ((is_object($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"])) ? mysqli_error($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"]) : (($___mysqli_res = mysqli_connect_error()) ? $___mysqli_res : false)) . '</pre>' );

    //mysql_close();
}

?> 

As you can see no security is implemented in this PHP code. We can just add a random name and an alert javascript code to the message section.

Payload : <script>alert(1)</script>

Medium

<?php

if( isset( $_POST[ 'btnSign' ] ) ) {
    // Get input
    $message = trim( $_POST[ 'mtxMessage' ] );
    $name    = trim( $_POST[ 'txtName' ] );

    // Sanitize message input
    $message = strip_tags( addslashes( $message ) );
    $message = ((isset($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"]) && is_object($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"])) ? mysqli_real_escape_string($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"],  $message ) : ((trigger_error("[MySQLConverterToo] Fix the mysql_escape_string() call! This code does not work.", E_USER_ERROR)) ? "" : ""));
    $message = htmlspecialchars( $message );

    // Sanitize name input
    $name = str_replace( '<script>', '', $name );
    $name = ((isset($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"]) && is_object($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"])) ? mysqli_real_escape_string($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"],  $name ) : ((trigger_error("[MySQLConverterToo] Fix the mysql_escape_string() call! This code does not work.", E_USER_ERROR)) ? "" : ""));

    // Update database
    $query  = "INSERT INTO guestbook ( comment, name ) VALUES ( '$message', '$name' );";
    $result = mysqli_query($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"],  $query ) or die( '<pre>' . ((is_object($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"])) ? mysqli_error($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"]) : (($___mysqli_res = mysqli_connect_error()) ? $___mysqli_res : false)) . '</pre>' );

    //mysql_close();
}

?> 

Here the message is completely sanitized. We can't break into this through message. We have to try the name textbox. It removes the script tag so we can add the payload like this - <sc<script>ript>alert(1)</sc<script>ript>.

We still run into certain problems. The max length of the name textbox is 10. Change that through the HTML that looks like this.

<input name="txtName" type="text" size="30" maxlength="10">

Change the max length to 50 and insert the payload.

Payload : <sc<script>ript>alert(1)</sc<script>ript>

High

<?php

if( isset( $_POST[ 'btnSign' ] ) ) {
    // Get input
    $message = trim( $_POST[ 'mtxMessage' ] );
    $name    = trim( $_POST[ 'txtName' ] );

    // Sanitize message input
    $message = strip_tags( addslashes( $message ) );
    $message = ((isset($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"]) && is_object($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"])) ? mysqli_real_escape_string($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"],  $message ) : ((trigger_error("[MySQLConverterToo] Fix the mysql_escape_string() call! This code does not work.", E_USER_ERROR)) ? "" : ""));
    $message = htmlspecialchars( $message );

    // Sanitize name input
    $name = preg_replace( '/<(.*)s(.*)c(.*)r(.*)i(.*)p(.*)t/i', '', $name );
    $name = ((isset($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"]) && is_object($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"])) ? mysqli_real_escape_string($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"],  $name ) : ((trigger_error("[MySQLConverterToo] Fix the mysql_escape_string() call! This code does not work.", E_USER_ERROR)) ? "" : ""));

    // Update database
    $query  = "INSERT INTO guestbook ( comment, name ) VALUES ( '$message', '$name' );";
    $result = mysqli_query($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"],  $query ) or die( '<pre>' . ((is_object($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"])) ? mysqli_error($GLOBALS["___mysqli_ston"]) : (($___mysqli_res = mysqli_connect_error()) ? $___mysqli_res : false)) . '</pre>' );

    //mysql_close();
}

?> 

Here the name is sanitized of all script tags. First, change the max length of the textbox to 50. Then add <svg onload=alert(1)> to create a SVG image that alerts 1 when loaded.

Payload : <svg onload=alert(1)>