Sharepoint ServerApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2016-0011

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-01-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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 · unedited
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 SP1 and SharePoint Foundation 2013 SP1 allow remote authenticated users to bypass intended Access Control Policy restrictions and conduct cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks by modifying a webpart, aka "Microsoft SharePoint Security Feature Bypass," a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-6117.

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 confidence

This is a security feature bypass vulnerability in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 SP1 and SharePoint Foundation 2013 SP1 that allows authenticated remote users to bypass intended Access Control Policy restrictions and conduct cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks by modifying a webpart.

MitigationApply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2016-0011; in the interim, restrict or disable the ability for lower-privileged users to modify webparts and implement additional input validation on webpart content.

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
Sharepoint ServerApplication
Affected:= 2013
Sharepoint FoundationApplication
Affected:= 2013

CVSS 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
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed SharePoint version
    Open SharePoint Management Shell and run: Get-SPFarm | Select-Object BuildVersion, Version. Alternatively, check Programs and Features in Control Panel for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 or Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013.
    Affected if The installed version is Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 or Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 (any build)
  2. Determine if lower-privileged users can modify webparts
    In SharePoint Central Administration, go to Application Management > Manage web applications > User Policy. Check if users with limited permissions (such as Contribute or Edit level) have permissions to modify or add webparts on any site collection.
    Affected if Users with permissions below Full Control or Design can add, edit, or modify web parts on affected sites
  3. Review Access Control Policy settings for webpart pages
    Navigate to Site Settings > Site Permissions for each affected site collection. Verify the permission levels assigned to user groups, specifically checking if the "Open" or "View" permissions are being overridden by custom webpart policies.
    Affected if Custom Access Control Policies exist that allow authenticated users to modify webpart content without proper restriction
  4. Audit existing webparts for potential XSS content
    Using SharePoint Designer or PowerShell (Get-SPOWebPart -PageUrl), enumerate all webparts on pages accessible to lower-privileged users. Inspect the webpart content for unsanitized user input that could contain script tags or HTML attributes.
    Affected if Webparts contain unsanitized content that could be exploited for cross-site scripting

A user is affected if they are running SharePoint 2013 and lower-privileged authenticated users have the ability to modify or add web parts on any site collection.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2016-0011; in the interim, restrict or disable the ability for lower-privileged users to modify webparts and implement additional input validation on webpart content.

Fix this in Sharepoint Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-0011 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-0011 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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