CVE-2018-12229
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 · uneditedCross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Public Knowledge Project (PKP) Open Journal System (OJS) 3.0.0 to 3.1.1-1 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the templates/frontend/pages/search.tpl parameter (aka the By Author field).
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 confidenceA reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in PKP Open Journal System (OJS) versions 3.0.0 through 3.1.1-1. The 'By Author' search field in templates/frontend/pages/search.tpl does not properly sanitize user input, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary HTML or JavaScript via the parameter.
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> 3.0.0, <= 3.1.1-1CVSS 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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Check OJS versionLocate the version file or check the administrative about page for the installed OJS version. Common locations include a version.php file or the About > Journal information page in the admin dashboard.Affected if The installed version is greater than 3.0.0 and less than or equal to 3.1.1-1 (for example, 3.1.0, 3.1.1, or 3.1.1-1).
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Identify the search template fileLocate the file templates/frontend/pages/search.tpl in the OJS installation directory and examine its contents.Affected if The search.tpl file exists in the expected path and contains a 'By Author' search field implementation.
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Verify the By Author field is presentSearch the search.tpl file for the author search form field (typically named something like 'author' or 'authorString') and check how it handles user input.Affected if The template contains a form field for author search that does not use proper output encoding functions (such as htmlEscape or equivalent) when rendering the user-supplied author parameter back to the page.
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Test the search parameter reflectionSubmit a search request via the frontend search page using the author field with a test payload (such as a harmless string like '<script>alert(1)</script>') and observe if it is reflected unescaped in the response.Affected if The author search parameter value is reflected in the HTML response without being HTML-encoded.
You are affected if your OJS installation version is between 3.0.0 and 3.1.1-1 inclusive and the search.tpl template contains an unescaped By Author field that reflects user input without encoding.
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 output encoding/escaping to user-supplied input in the search.tpl template file, specifically the By Author field parameter. Upgrade to OJS 3.1.2 or later which contains the security patch.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12229 — 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-2018-12229 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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