CVE-2024-6273 Overview
CVE-2024-6273 is a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in SourceCodester Clinic Queuing System 1.0 developed by oretnom23. The flaw resides in the save_patient function within patient_side.php. Attackers can inject malicious script payloads through the Full Name, Contact, or Address parameters. The application fails to sanitize this user-supplied input before rendering it back to browsers. Exploitation requires no authentication and can be launched remotely over the network. The vulnerability has been publicly disclosed and assigned VulDB identifier VDB-269485. The issue is categorized under [CWE-79] (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation).
Critical Impact
Remote attackers can inject arbitrary JavaScript into the patient registration workflow, enabling session hijacking, credential theft, and unauthorized actions against clinic staff and patients viewing affected pages.
Affected Products
- Oretnom23 Clinic Queuing System 1.0
- SourceCodester distribution of Clinic Queuing System
- CPE: cpe:2.3:a:oretnom23:clinic_queuing_system:1.0
Discovery Timeline
- 2024-06-23 - CVE-2024-6273 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-6273
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability stems from missing output encoding and input sanitization in the patient registration workflow. The save_patient function in patient_side.php accepts user-supplied values for Full Name, Contact, and Address fields. These values are stored and later rendered in the application without HTML entity encoding. When a staff member or another user views a page displaying attacker-controlled data, the injected script executes in the victim's browser context.
The attack requires no privileges and no user interaction beyond visiting a page that renders the poisoned patient record. Because the payload persists in the application, this behaves as a stored XSS condition. Successful exploitation can lead to session token theft, forced administrative actions, and delivery of secondary payloads. Given the healthcare context, patient data confidentiality is also at risk.
Root Cause
The root cause is improper neutralization of input during web page generation [CWE-79]. The application does not apply contextual output encoding when reflecting stored patient attributes. It also lacks a Content Security Policy that would restrict inline script execution.
Attack Vector
An unauthenticated remote attacker submits a crafted patient registration request containing a JavaScript payload in the Full Name, Contact, or Address parameter. The payload is stored server-side and executes when any user views the affected record within the clinic interface.
No verified proof-of-concept code has been published. Refer to the
GitHub advisory and VulDB entry linked in the references section for
technical details of the payload format.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-6273
Indicators of Compromise
- Patient records containing HTML tags, <script> blocks, or JavaScript event handlers such as onerror= or onload= in name, contact, or address fields
- Web server access logs showing POST requests to patient_side.php with URL-encoded angle brackets or javascript: URIs
- Outbound HTTP requests from clinic workstations to unknown domains immediately after opening the patient queue interface
Detection Strategies
- Deploy a web application firewall rule that inspects POST parameters submitted to patient_side.php for XSS signatures
- Perform periodic database queries against the patients table to identify entries containing suspicious HTML or script content
- Monitor browser Content Security Policy violation reports if a report-only policy is enabled during remediation
Monitoring Recommendations
- Log all input submissions to save_patient with source IP, user agent, and payload length for later review
- Alert on anomalous patient registrations submitted from external IP ranges outside expected geographic zones
- Correlate authenticated staff session anomalies with recent patient record views to identify successful XSS exploitation
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-6273
Immediate Actions Required
- Restrict network access to the Clinic Queuing System to trusted internal networks or VPN users until a patch is available
- Audit existing patient records in the database and remove entries containing HTML tags or JavaScript payloads
- Deploy a web application firewall in front of patient_side.php to block XSS payload patterns
Patch Information
No official vendor patch has been referenced in the CVE record at the time of publication. Review the GitHub CVE-2024-6273 Details and VulDB Entry #269485 for the latest remediation status. Organizations running Clinic Queuing System 1.0 should apply source-level fixes that add HTML entity encoding to all rendered patient attributes.
Workarounds
- Implement server-side input validation on Full Name, Contact, and Address fields to reject characters such as <, >, and quotes
- Apply contextual output encoding using PHP functions like htmlspecialchars() when rendering patient data
- Enforce a strict Content Security Policy that disallows inline script execution and restricts script sources
- Set the HttpOnly and Secure flags on session cookies to reduce the impact of successful script execution
# Example Apache header hardening to reduce XSS impact
Header always set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; object-src 'none'"
Header always set X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff"
Header always edit Set-Cookie ^(.*)$ "$1; HttpOnly; Secure; SameSite=Strict"
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
