InotesApplication · Ibm

CVE-2017-1421

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-12-13
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 iNotes 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.

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

IBM iNotes contains a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability that allows authenticated users to embed arbitrary JavaScript code into the web interface. This occurs through unsanitized user input that is rendered back to other users, potentially enabling credential theft via session hijacking within trusted sessions.

MitigationApply IBM's official patch for this vulnerability. Until patched, implement output encoding and input validation for all user-supplied content rendered in the iNotes web interface.

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
InotesApplication
Affected:= 8.5= 8.5.1= 8.5.1.1= 8.5.1.5= 8.5.2= 8.5.2.1= 8.5.2.4= 8.5.3= 8.5.3.1= 8.5.3.6= 9.0= 9.0.1

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. Verify IBM iNotes version
    Check the installed IBM iNotes version through IBM i admin console, domino server console, or by querying the Domino server version. Look for version numbers 8.5, 8.5.1, 8.5.1.1, 8.5.1.5, 8.5.2, 8.5.2.1, 8.5.2.4, 8.5.3, 8.5.3.1, 8.5.3.6, 9.0, or 9.0.1
    Affected if The installed version matches any of these versions: 8.5, 8.5.1, 8.5.1.1, 8.5.1.5, 8.5.2, 8.5.2.1, 8.5.2.4, 8.5.3, 8.5.3.1, 8.5.3.6, 9.0, or 9.0.1
  2. Confirm iNotes web interface is enabled
    Check Domino server configuration for iNotes web access. Verify the iNotes or HTTP task is running on the Domino server and that web access is enabled for users
    Affected if The iNotes web interface (iNotes HTTP task) is enabled and accessible to users
  3. Determine if users can submit content to iNotes
    Identify which user roles have the ability to create or modify content displayed in iNotes, such as calendar entries, contacts, or mail documents that render back to other users
    Affected if Authenticated users can create or edit content that gets stored and displayed to other users in the iNotes web interface
  4. Check for user-supplied content rendering
    Inspect iNotes configuration for any custom views, forms, or templates that accept and display user input without visible sanitization or encoding mechanisms
    Affected if The environment uses custom or modified iNotes templates that render user-supplied content without output encoding

You are affected if your IBM iNotes installation runs any of the listed affected versions (8.5 through 9.0.1) and the iNotes web interface is enabled with authenticated user access to submit content that gets rendered to other users.

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's official patch for this vulnerability. Until patched, implement output encoding and input validation for all user-supplied content rendered in the iNotes web interface.

Fix this in Inotes 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-2017-1421 — 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-2017-1421 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