Description

A flaw was found in FreeIPA. An unauthenticated remote attacker could exploit a DOM Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the FreeIPA/IdM Web UI password reset page. By enticing a victim to click a specially crafted link and complete a password reset, the attacker could inject and execute arbitrary JavaScript code. This allows the attacker to perform actions within the victim's authenticated session, potentially leading to full administrative control if an IdM administrator is targeted.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "8.1",
  "pubDate": "2026-09-09T17:17:17.007Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-09-09T17:17:17.007Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A DOM-based Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists within the FreeIPA/IdM Web UI, specifically affecting the password reset page.\nThe vulnerability allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to inject and execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the context of a victim's authenticated browser session.\nSuccessful exploitation requires the victim to interact with a specially crafted, attacker-supplied link and proceed through the password reset workflow.\nThe impact is significant, as it grants the attacker the ability to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of the victim. If the targeted user possesses administrative privileges, this vulnerability can lead to a complete compromise of the Identity Management (IdM) system.\nThis flaw represents a critical security risk to FreeIPA deployments, emphasizing the importance of input validation and output encoding within client-side Web UI components.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability is identified as a DOM-based Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) flaw located in the FreeIPA/IdM Web UI password reset mechanism. DOM-based XSS occurs when an application contains client-side JavaScript that processes data from an untrusted source in an unsafe way, typically by writing the data to the Document Object Model (DOM).\nIn this specific implementation, the FreeIPA Web UI fails to adequately sanitize user-supplied input parameters processed by the password reset page. When the application dynamically updates its DOM based on these inputs without proper validation, the malicious JavaScript payload is executed within the context of the user's browser.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, an unauthenticated attacker crafts a malicious URL containing a payload designed to exploit the insecure client-side script on the password reset page. Second, the attacker entices an authenticated or targeted user to click the crafted link. Third, as the user interacts with the password reset process, the client-side script processes the malicious input and reflects it into the DOM. Finally, the browser executes the injected JavaScript code.\nSince the execution occurs within the victim's authenticated session, the malicious code can interact with the Identity Management Web UI with the same permissions as the victim. The script can perform administrative functions, exfiltrate sensitive data, or manipulate the IdM state. If an administrator is the target of this attack, the attacker gains the ability to execute unauthorized administrative actions, effectively resulting in full control over the IdM environment.\nThe vulnerability is primarily exposed via network-accessible Web UI endpoints. Because it does not require authentication from the attacker to initiate the malicious request, the exploit relies entirely on social engineering the target into clicking the link during the intended user flow. The reliance on DOM-based processing signifies that the flaw resides in the frontend JavaScript logic rather than the server-side backend, bypassing traditional server-side sanitization measures if they are not mirrored on the client side."
}