CVE-2017-1000481
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 · uneditedWhen you visit a page where you need to login, Plone 2.5-5.1rc1 sends you to the login form with a 'came_from' parameter set to the previous url. After you login, you get redirected to the page you tried to view before. An attacker might try to abuse this by letting you click on a specially crafted link. You would login, and get redirected to the site of the attacker, letting you think that you are still on the original Plone site. Or some javascript of the attacker could be executed. Most of these types of attacks are already blocked by Plone, using the `isURLInPortal` check to make sure we only redirect to a page on the same Plone site. But a few more ways of tricking Plone into accepting a malicious link were discovered, and fixed with this hotfix.
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 confidencePlone 2.5-5.1rc1 has an open redirect vulnerability in its login mechanism. The 'came_from' parameter used to redirect users after login is validated via isURLInPortal, but attackers discovered additional bypass methods allowing redirects to external attacker-controlled sites or execution of malicious JavaScript.
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= 2.5.5= 3.3= 3.3.1= 3.3.2= 3.3.3= 3.3.4= 3.3.5= 3.3.6= 4.0= 4.0.1= 4.0.2= 4.0.3CVSS 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:3.0/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 installed Plone versionLocate the Plone installation and check the version file or use the Zope Management Interface version info. Common locations include /path/to/Plone/version.txt or check the About information in the ZMI.Affected if The installed version is 2.5.5, 3.3 through 3.3.6, or 4.0 through 4.0.3 (or any version between 2.5 and 5.1rc1 not explicitly listed).
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Verify login template uses came_from parameterExamine the login form template (typically login_form or similar in the Plone skins) and confirm it accepts and passes a 'came_from' parameter for post-login redirection.Affected if The login mechanism includes a 'came_from' parameter that controls the post-login redirect destination.
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Inspect URL validation in login handlerReview the login processing script or method that handles the 'came_from' redirect. Check if validation uses only isURLInPortal or if additional validation methods are present.Affected if The redirect logic relies solely on isURLInPortal without additional validation checks.
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Check for hotfix validation additionsSearch the codebase for additional URL validation functions added to prevent external redirects, specifically looking for checks beyond isURLInPortal that validate against a whitelist or perform stricter domain checking.Affected if No additional URL validation beyond isURLInPortal exists in the login redirect handling.
You are affected if your Plone version falls within 2.5 to 5.1rc1 and the login redirect mechanism lacks the additional URL validation checks added by the official hotfix.
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 the official Plone hotfix for CVE-2017-1000481 which adds additional URL validation checks beyond isURLInPortal to prevent malicious redirect targets.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-1000481 — 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-2017-1000481 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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