CVE-2024-4652: School Management System XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2024-4652 Overview

CVE-2024-4652 is a reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Campcodes Complete Web-Based School Management System 1.0. The flaw resides in the /view/show_teacher2.php script, where the month parameter is reflected into the response without proper output encoding. An unauthenticated attacker can craft a malicious URL that executes arbitrary JavaScript in the context of a victim's browser session. The issue is tracked publicly as VulDB entry VDB-263496 and classified under CWE-79.

Critical Impact
Remote attackers can hijack user sessions, deface pages, or redirect administrators and teachers to attacker-controlled content by delivering a crafted link.

Affected Products

Campcodes Complete Web-Based School Management System 1.0
Component: /view/show_teacher2.php
Vulnerable parameter: month

Discovery Timeline

2024-05-08 - CVE-2024-4652 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-4652

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a reflected XSS flaw in the teacher view component of the application. The show_teacher2.php endpoint accepts a month query parameter and renders its value directly into the HTML response. Because the application neither validates nor escapes this input, injected markup and script tags execute in the victim's browser.

Exploitation requires user interaction, typically clicking a crafted link. The scope changes from the vulnerable component to the user's browser session, allowing theft of session cookies, form data, or execution of actions on behalf of the authenticated user. Administrative accounts targeted through this flaw expose the entire school management workflow to attacker control.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of input during web page generation. The month parameter flows from the HTTP request into the rendered HTML without context-aware output encoding or input sanitization. This pattern matches the CWE-79 weakness class.

Attack Vector

An attacker crafts a URL to /view/show_teacher2.php containing a malicious payload in the month parameter. The attacker delivers the URL through phishing email, chat, or an embedded link on a compromised page. When a logged-in user opens the link, the injected JavaScript executes in the context of the vulnerable application and inherits the user's session privileges.

For technical details and proof-of-concept documentation, refer to the GitHub XSS Vulnerability Report and the VulDB CVE-263496 Analysis.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-4652

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP GET requests to /view/show_teacher2.php containing <script>, javascript:, onerror=, or URL-encoded variants in the month parameter.
Outbound requests from user browsers to unknown domains immediately after visiting the teacher view page.
Session cookies observed in referrer headers or logs destined for third-party hosts.

Detection Strategies

Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) with signatures for reflected XSS payloads targeting the month parameter.
Review web server access logs for suspicious query strings containing HTML or JavaScript syntax on show_teacher2.php.
Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) reporting to capture inline script violations originating from the application.

Monitoring Recommendations

Alert on repeated requests from a single source containing encoded script fragments in query parameters.
Correlate authenticated session activity with anomalous outbound browser traffic.
Monitor administrator and teacher accounts for actions originating from unusual IP addresses or user agents following link clicks.

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-4652

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict access to the Campcodes Complete Web-Based School Management System from untrusted networks until a fix is applied.
Instruct users not to click links to the application that originate from external sources or unsolicited messages.
Deploy WAF rules to block script tags, event handlers, and JavaScript URI schemes in the month parameter.

Patch Information

No vendor patch has been published in the referenced advisories at the time of writing. Operators should monitor the VulDB #263496 entry and the Campcodes vendor channels for update availability. Until a patch is released, apply the workarounds below.

Workarounds

Modify show_teacher2.php to validate the month parameter against an allowlist of valid month values (for example, 01 through 12).
Apply context-aware output encoding (HTML entity encoding) to any user-controlled value rendered into the page.
Enforce a strict Content Security Policy that disallows inline scripts and restricts script sources to trusted origins.
Set the HttpOnly and Secure flags on session cookies to limit the impact of script-based cookie theft.

bash

# Example WAF rule concept (ModSecurity) - block script payloads in the month parameter
SecRule ARGS:month "@rx (?i)(<script|javascript:|onerror=|onload=|<svg|<img)" \
    "id:1004652,phase:2,deny,status:403,msg:'CVE-2024-4652 XSS attempt on show_teacher2.php'"