CVE-2018-16202
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 · uneditedDirectory traversal vulnerability in cordova-plugin-ionic-webview versions prior to 2.2.0 (not including 2.0.0-beta.0, 2.0.0-beta.1, 2.0.0-beta.2, and 2.1.0-0) allows remote attackers to access arbitrary files via unspecified vectors.
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 · moderate confidenceDirectory traversal vulnerability in cordova-plugin-ionic-webview allows attackers to use path traversal sequences (..) to escape the intended directory and access arbitrary files on the host filesystem. This occurs due to insufficient path validation in the webview's file handling mechanisms.
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<= 1.2.1>= 2.0.1, < 2.2.0= 2.0.0CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/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 if cordova-plugin-ionic-webview is installedReview your project's dependency manifest (such as package.json or config.xml) or inspect the plugins directory for the presence of cordova-plugin-ionic-webview.Affected if The plugin is not present in the project.
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Determine the installed version of the pluginLocate the cordova-plugin-ionic-webview entry in your package.json devDependencies or dependencies section, or check the plugin's own version file if accessible.Affected if The version cannot be determined or is not listed.
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Compare your version against affected rangesIf a version is identified, compare it against the affected ranges: versions 1.2.1 and below, version 2.0.0, and versions 2.0.1 through 2.2.0 (excluding 2.2.0).Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: <= 1.2.1, = 2.0.0, or >= 2.0.1 and < 2.2.0.
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Verify the webview file handling is in useDetermine whether your application actually invokes the Ionic Web View plugin for file access or resource loading at runtime.Affected if The plugin is installed but never called by the application.
A user is affected if cordova-plugin-ionic-webview is present in the project with a version matching <= 1.2.1, = 2.0.0, or >= 2.0.1 and < 2.2.0, and the application actually utilizes the webview's file handling capabilities.
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 data2.2.0
Upgrade cordova-plugin-ionic-webview to version 2.2.0 or later to obtain the patched code that properly validates and sanitizes file paths.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,000.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-16202 — 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-2018-16202 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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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.
- 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