CVE-2018-15913
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in Cloudera Manager 5.x through 5.15.0. One type of page in Cloudera Manager uses a 'returnUrl' parameter to redirect the user to another page in Cloudera Manager once a wizard is completed. The validity of this parameter was not checked. As a result, the user could be automatically redirected to an attacker's external site or perform a malicious JavaScript function that results in cross-site scripting (XSS). This was fixed by not allowing any value in the returnUrl parameter with patterns such as http://, https://, //, or javascript. The only exceptions to this rule are the SAML Login/Logout URLs, which remain supported since they are explicitly configured and they are not passed via the returnUrl parameter.
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 confidenceCloudera Manager 5.x through 5.15.0 contains an open redirect and potential XSS vulnerability in the 'returnUrl' parameter used by wizard completion pages. The parameter was not validated, allowing attackers to redirect users to external malicious sites or execute arbitrary JavaScript via javascript: URLs.
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>= 5.0.0, <= 5.15.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Cloudera Manager versionAccess the Cloudera Manager admin UI and navigate to the About or Support page, or run 'cloudera-manager --version' from the command line if available, or inspect the manifest or version file in the Cloudera Manager installation directoryAffected if The installed version is between 5.0.0 and 5.15.0 inclusive
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Locate wizard completion page URLsReview web server or proxy access logs for requests to wizard completion endpoints (typically paths containing 'wizard' and 'complete' or 'finish'), noting any 'returnUrl' query parametersAffected if Requests to wizard pages include an unvalidated returnUrl parameter pointing to external or javascript: URLs
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Inspect returnUrl parameter handlingIf you have access to the Cloudera Manager web application source or configuration, search for the code handling the 'returnUrl' parameter in wizard completion handlers and verify whether URL validation is implementedAffected if The returnUrl parameter accepts arbitrary URLs including those starting with http://, https://, //, or javascript: without validation or sanitization
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Review server logs for exploitation indicatorsExamine Cloudera Manager access logs for suspicious requests with returnUrl values containing external domains, IP addresses, or javascript: prefixesAffected if Logs show returnUrl values redirecting to untrusted domains or containing javascript: sequences
You are affected if Cloudera Manager version is 5.0.0 through 5.15.0 and the wizard completion pages are accessible without additional authentication controls on the returnUrl parameter.
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 dataUpgrade to Cloudera Manager 5.15.1 or later which blocks http://, https://, //, and javascript: patterns in the returnUrl parameter. Alternatively, apply the vendor patch if available for the specific version in use.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-15913 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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