PrestashopCMS
CVE-2012-20001
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 · uneditedPrestaShop before 1.5.2 allows XSS via the "<object data='data:text/html" substring in the message field.
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 confidencePrestaShop before version 1.5.2 contains a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the message field. The application fails to properly sanitize user input, allowing injection of a malicious <object data='data:text/html'> tag which can execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of other users' browsers when they view the crafted message.
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
PrestashopCMS
< 1.5.2CVSS 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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Check installed PrestaShop versionLog into the PrestaShop admin dashboard and navigate to Advanced Parameters > Configuration Information, or check the version.php file in the PrestaShop root directory. Compare the version number to the affected range (anything below 1.5.2).Affected if The installed version is lower than 1.5.2
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Identify if the message submission feature is activeDetermine whether the contact form, customer service message module, or any feature allowing user-submitted messages is enabled on the storefront. Check the installed modules for contact form or customer service components.Affected if The message submission functionality is enabled and accessible to users
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Inspect stored messages for malicious payloadsAccess the PrestaShop back office customer service or messages database table (typically ps_message or similar) and search for records containing '<object' tags, 'data:text/html', or base64-encoded HTML content within message fields.Affected if Any messages contain <object data= or other HTML injection tags in the message content field
You are affected if PrestaShop version is below 1.5.2 AND the message/submission feature is active, with or without existing malicious payloads already stored.
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.
dbcve · scoped1.5.2
Upgrade PrestaShop to version 1.5.2 or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, implement proper input validation and output encoding on the message field, specifically sanitizing or blocking HTML object tags and data URIs.
Prestashop 1.5.2
- 1. Backup your entire PrestaShop installation and database before proceeding with any upgrade.
- 2. Verify your current PrestaShop version by checking the admin panel or the config/settings.inc.php file.
- 3. Download PrestaShop 1.5.2 from the official PrestaShop releases (getprestashop.com or github.com/prestashop/prestashop).
- 4. Disable your PrestaShop store temporarily or set it to maintenance mode.
- 5. Upload and extract the 1.5.2 files to your server, overwriting the existing files while preserving your config/settings.inc.php and any custom modules/themes.
- 6. Run the upgrade script or access /install/ to complete the database migration if required.
- 7. Clear all PrestaShop caches (in admin panel under Advanced Parameters > Performance).
- 8. Test that the message field functionality works correctly and the XSS vulnerability is no longer present.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Prestashop
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-20001 — 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-2012-20001 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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