CVE-2007-3484
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedCross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in search.php in Google Custom Search Engine allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the q parameter. NOTE: this issue is disputed by the Google Security Team, who states that "Google does not provide the 'search.php' script referenced. When a user creates a custom search engine, we provide them with a block of javascript to include on their site. Some users write additional code around this block of javascript to further customize their website.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceReflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in a user-created search.php file associated with Google Custom Search Engine. The q parameter does not properly sanitize user input before reflecting it back in the HTML response, allowing injection of arbitrary JavaScript or HTML.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify search.php file for Google Custom Search EngineLocate any search.php file in your web root or search-related directories that implements Google Custom Search Engine functionality. Search for files containing references to 'Google Custom Search' or 'google.search' in the code.Affected if A search.php file exists that was created for Google Custom Search Engine implementation.
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Verify the q parameter is handledExamine the search.php file source code and search for usage of the 'q' parameter (e.g., $_GET['q'], $_REQUEST['q'], or similar). Confirm that this parameter is being processed and used in the script.Affected if The search.php file reads and uses the 'q' parameter from user input.
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Inspect how q parameter is output in HTML responseExamine the search.php code to find where the q parameter value is inserted into the HTML output (e.g., echo, print, or inside HTML attributes/tags). Look for whether output encoding functions like htmlspecialchars() are used.Affected if The q parameter value is reflected directly in the HTML response without sanitization or encoding.
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Test for XSS vulnerabilityManually submit a test request with a harmless XSS probe in the q parameter (e.g., ?q=%3Cscript%3Ealert('XSS')%3C/script%3E) and verify whether the script tag appears unencoded in the page source or executes in the browser.Affected if The q parameter value appears in the page output without HTML encoding, allowing script injection.
You are affected if you have deployed a user-created search.php file for Google Custom Search Engine that reflects the q parameter in HTML output without sanitization using functions like htmlspecialchars().
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataImplement proper input validation and output encoding on the q parameter in search.php using functions like htmlspecialchars() or a mature XSS filtering library before reflecting any user-supplied data.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2007-3484 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-3484 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data