CVE-2017-9332
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 · uneditedThe smarty_self function in modules/module_smarty.php in PivotX 2.3.11 mishandles the URI, allowing XSS via vectors involving quotes in the self Smarty tag.
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 confidenceThe smarty_self function in PivotX 2.3.11 (modules/module_smarty.php) fails to properly sanitize or encode URI data when processing the self Smarty tag, allowing injection of malicious script through quote characters. This stored/reflected XSS vulnerability can be exploited via crafted URLs or tag parameters.
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= 2.3.11CVSS 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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Confirm PivotX versionLocate and inspect the PivotX version file or header documentation (typically in a version.php, constants file, or admin dashboard about page) to determine the installed versionAffected if The installed version is exactly PivotX 2.3.11
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Verify smarty_self function existsCheck for the presence of modules/module_smarty.php in the PivotX installation directory and open it to confirm the smarty_self function is definedAffected if The file modules/module_smarty.php exists and contains the smarty_self function
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Inspect smarty_self URI handlingExamine the smarty_self function code in modules/module_smarty.php to see how it processes URI parameters (such as those from $_GET, $_POST, or request URIs) and whether it applies any encoding or escaping to quote charactersAffected if The function processes URI data without escaping quotes or encoding output before rendering
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Check for self tag usage in templatesSearch PivotX template files (.tpl) and admin configurations for usage of the {self} Smarty tag, particularly with dynamic parameters that could be user-controlledAffected if The {self} tag is used with parameters that can be influenced by user input without sanitization
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Test for XSS via self tag parametersCraft a test URL using the self tag with a parameter containing a quote character (e.g., ?param=%22%3Cscript%3Ealert(1)%3C/script%3E) and observe if it is reflected unescaped in the outputAffected if Quote characters and script tags appear literally in the page output without HTML entity encoding
You are affected if running PivotX 2.3.11 and the smarty_self function in modules/module_smarty.php processes URI parameters without escaping quotes or encoding output when rendering the self Smarty tag.
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 dataInput validation and output encoding should be applied to URI parameters in the smarty_self function before rendering, specifically escaping quotes and other XSS-relevant characters when processing the self Smarty tag.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-9332 — 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-2017-9332 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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- 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
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