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Websphere PortalApplication · Ibm

CVE-2017-1189

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-09-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
IBM WebSphere Portal and Web Content Manager 6.1, 7.0, and 8.0 is vulnerable to cross-site scripting. This vulnerability allows users to embed arbitrary JavaScript code in the Web UI thus altering the intended functionality potentially leading to credentials disclosure within a trusted session. IBM X-Force ID: 123558.

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

Stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in IBM WebSphere Portal and Web Content Manager versions 6.1, 7.0, and 8.0 allows attackers to embed arbitrary JavaScript code into the Web UI. This executes within the context of trusted user sessions, potentially leading to credential disclosure or session hijacking.

MitigationApply IBM security patches for this vulnerability; implement output encoding and input validation on affected interfaces; consider Content Security Policy headers to mitigate XSS execution risks.

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
Websphere PortalApplication
Affected:= 6.1.0.0= 6.1.0.1= 6.1.0.2= 6.1.0.3= 6.1.0.4= 6.1.0.5= 6.1.0.6= 6.1.5.0= 6.1.5.1= 6.1.5.2= 6.1.5.3= 7.0.0.0

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed WebSphere Portal version
    Access the WebSphere Portal Administration console or check the version file in the PortalServer directory. In the admin console, navigate to 'Portal Analysis' > 'Version Info' or run the command 'versionsInfo.bat/sh' from the PortalServer/bin directory.
    Affected if The installed version matches 6.1.0.0 through 6.1.0.6, 6.1.5.0 through 6.1.5.3, 7.0.0.0, or falls within the 8.0.x range mentioned as affected in the summary.
  2. Confirm Web Content Manager is enabled
    In the WebSphere Portal Admin console, navigate to 'Portal User Administration' > 'Portlet Management' or check if the 'Web Content Manager' portlet is installed and active. Alternatively, check for the presence of the WCM API libraries in the PortalServer/shared/app directory.
    Affected if Web Content Manager module is installed and active on the system.
  3. Verify Web UI content authoring is accessible
    Check if end users have access to content creation interfaces such as the Web Content Manager authoring portlet, IBM Workplace Designer, or any HTML-based content entry forms. Inspect the WebSphere Portal user roles and permissions for content contributor access.
    Affected if Users with content creation privileges can access Web UI authoring interfaces.
  4. Inspect content storage for unencoded input
    Review stored content in the Web Content Manager database or content repository. Examine HTML content stored through authoring portlets to determine if user-submitted content is being stored without proper output encoding.
    Affected if Content submitted through Web UI is stored and rendered without sanitization or encoding.

A system is affected if it runs a matched version from the affected list with Web Content Manager enabled and has unvalidated content stored in the Web UI.

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 IBM security patches for this vulnerability; implement output encoding and input validation on affected interfaces; consider Content Security Policy headers to mitigate XSS execution risks.

Fix this in Websphere Portal Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2017-1189 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