CVE-2010-5148
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 · uneditedWebsense Web Security and Web Filter before 7.1 Hotfix 21 do not set the secure flag for the Encrypted Session (SSL) cookie in an https session, which makes it easier for remote attackers to capture this cookie by intercepting its transmission within an http session.
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 · high confidenceWebsense Web Security and Web Filter versions before 7.1 Hotfix 21 fail to set the Secure flag on the Encrypted Session (SSL) cookie. Without this flag, the session cookie can be transmitted over insecure HTTP connections, making it vulnerable to interception via man-in-the-middle attacks.
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 data<= 7.0<= 7.0CVSS 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
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/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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Check Websense product versionLocate the installed Websense Web Security or Web Filter version in the product admin console under 'Help > About' or check the installer/log files. The version number is typically displayed in the format like 7.0.x or 7.1.x.Affected if The version is 7.0 or any 7.0.x release (the product is <= 7.0)
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Confirm if Hotfix 21 is appliedIn the Websense admin interface, navigate to 'Help > System Information' or check the hotfix/patch history to see which hotfixes have been installed. Look specifically for Hotfix 21 applied to version 7.1.Affected if The product is version 7.1 without Hotfix 21, or is version 7.0 without upgrading to 7.1 Hotfix 21
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Inspect session cookie for Secure flagLog into the Websense web portal over HTTPS using a browser. Open browser developer tools (F12), go to the Application/Storage tab, and locate the session cookie. Examine the cookie attributes to see if the 'Secure' flag is present.Affected if The session cookie does NOT have the Secure flag set, indicating it could be transmitted over insecure HTTP
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Verify if HTTP access is enabledCheck the Websense configuration to see if HTTP (port 80) connections are allowed for user authentication or session management. Review the 'Protocol Configuration' or 'Service Ports' settings in the admin console.Affected if HTTP access is enabled and the session cookie lacks the Secure flag, the cookie could be intercepted in transit
You are affected if the installed Websense version is 7.0 or earlier, or is version 7.1 without Hotfix 21, AND the SSL session cookie is missing the Secure flag.
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 dataApply Websense version 7.1 Hotfix 21 or later, which includes the fix to set the Secure flag on the SSL session cookie. Alternatively, configure the web server or application to set the Secure flag on the session cookie.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-5148 — 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-2010-5148 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
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