ExpressionengineApplication

CVE-2017-1000160

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-11-17
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
EllisLab ExpressionEngine 3.4.2 is vulnerable to cross-site scripting resulting in PHP code injection

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 confidence

EllisLab ExpressionEngine 3.4.2 contains a cross-site scripting vulnerability that can be leveraged to achieve PHP code injection. This stored or reflected XSS allows attackers to inject malicious scripts that interact with the application's PHP execution logic, potentially leading to remote code execution.

MitigationUpdate ExpressionEngine to the latest version that patches this vulnerability. Additionally, implement proper input sanitization and output encoding across all user-controllable fields to prevent XSS exploitation.

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
ExpressionengineApplication
Affected:= 3.4.2

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 ExpressionEngine version
    Access the admin control panel and navigate to Overview or Settings to view the installed version, or check the system/expressionengine/config/config.php file for version information
    Affected if The installed version is 3.4.2 exactly
  2. Confirm ExpressionEngine is active
    Verify the ExpressionEngine application is currently running and accessible via web browser or API
    Affected if The application is running and accessible to users
  3. Check for user-controllable input fields
    Review the application for user-generated content features such as comments, forums, channel fields, or member profiles where input is stored and displayed
    Affected if User-controllable input fields exist that could store or reflect content
  4. Inspect application logs for XSS indicators
    Review ExpressionEngine logs in the system/ee/EllisLab/ExpressionEngine/Log directory for suspicious script injection patterns in request parameters
    Affected if Logs show attempted or successful script injection in user input fields

You are affected if ExpressionEngine version 3.4.2 is installed and the application handles user-supplied input that could be stored or reflected back to users without proper sanitization.

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

Update ExpressionEngine to the latest version that patches this vulnerability. Additionally, implement proper input sanitization and output encoding across all user-controllable fields to prevent XSS exploitation.

Fix this in Expressionengine Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-1000160 — 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-2017-1000160 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