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LimesurveyApplication

CVE-2018-10228

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-12-14
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
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in /application/controller/admin/theme.php in LimeSurvey 3.6.2+180406 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the changes_cp parameter to the index.php/admin/themes/sa/templatesavechanges URI.

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

LimeSurvey 3.6.2+180406 contains a reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the theme administration controller (theme.php). The vulnerability exists in the 'changes_cp' parameter when processing the /index.php/admin/themes/sa/templatesavechanges endpoint. Attackers can inject arbitrary JavaScript or HTML that executes in the context of an authenticated administrator's session.

MitigationImplement proper input validation and output encoding for the changes_cp parameter in theme.php. All user-supplied data should be sanitized before storage and HTML-encoded before rendering to prevent script execution.

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
LimesurveyApplication
Affected:= 3.6.2

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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/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 LimeSurvey installation
    Locate LimeSurvey installation directories, typically under web root paths like /var/www/html/limesurvey, /var/www/limesurvey, or C:\inetpub\wwwroot\limesurvey. Look for the main index.php file and the application structure.
    Affected if LimeSurvey is installed on the system
  2. Check installed LimeSurvey version
    Open the file application/config/version.php or check the VERSION file in the LimeSurvey root directory. Alternatively, look at the footer of the LimeSurvey admin interface after logging in.
    Affected if The installed version is 3.6.2 (specifically 3.6.2+180406)
  3. Locate the theme.php controller
    Navigate to application/controllers/admin/ and locate theme.php. Verify the file exists and check its modification date.
    Affected if The theme.php controller file exists in the expected path
  4. Verify the affected endpoint exists
    Check for the existence of the templatesavechanges action within theme.php. Look for a function named templatesavechanges or similar that handles the /index.php/admin/themes/sa/templatesavechanges endpoint.
    Affected if The templatesavechanges function exists in theme.php and processes the changes_cp parameter
  5. Check if admin authentication is required
    Review the theme.php controller for access control decorators or beforeAction methods that enforce administrator role requirements for the affected endpoint.
    Affected if The endpoint requires admin authentication, meaning an attacker needs a valid admin session

The environment is affected if LimeSurvey version 3.6.2 is installed and the theme.php controller with the vulnerable templatesavechanges endpoint is present and accessible to authenticated administrators.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement proper input validation and output encoding for the changes_cp parameter in theme.php. All user-supplied data should be sanitized before storage and HTML-encoded before rendering to prevent script execution.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest stable LimeSurvey 3.x or 6.x release (verify fix in release notes)

  1. 1. Back up your current LimeSurvey installation and database before any upgrade.
  2. 2. Download the latest stable version of LimeSurvey from the official GitHub repository (github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey).
  3. 3. Review the release notes for versions after 3.6.2 to confirm the XSS fix for the theme.php changes_cp parameter vulnerability.
  4. 4. Replace the application files with the new version, preserving your configuration and upload directory.
  5. 5. Run the database upgrade script if required by the new version.
  6. 6. Test the application functionality, particularly the theme management area at /admin/themes/sa/templatesavechanges.
  7. 7. Verify the fix by attempting to inject script via the changes_cp parameter - it should be properly escaped.
Caveat Major version upgrades (e.g., 3.x to 6.x) may require database migrations and theme/template adjustments

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Limesurvey Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2018-10228 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