CVE-2018-16718
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 XSS vulnerability exists in wwwblast.c in the 2.0.7 through 2.2.26 legacy versions of the NCBI ToolBox via a crafted -z1 argument.
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 confidenceAn XSS vulnerability exists in wwwblast.c in NCBI ToolBox versions 2.0.7 through 2.2.26, where user-supplied input via the -z1 argument is not properly sanitized before being rendered in a web context, allowing execution of arbitrary JavaScript.
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>= 2.0.7, <= 2.2.26CVSS 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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Identify if NCBI ToolBox is installedSearch common installation directories or check system package managers for NIH NCBI ToolBox softwareAffected if NCBI ToolBox software is present on the system
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Determine the installed NCBI ToolBox versionRun the software with a version flag, check installation logs, or inspect version files in the installation directoryAffected if The installed version falls within the range 2.0.7 to 2.2.26 inclusive
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Locate the wwwblast componentSearch the installation directory for the wwwblast.c source file or compiled binary that handles the -z1 argumentAffected if The wwwblast component that processes the -z1 parameter is present
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Verify web interface exposureCheck if the wwwblast functionality is exposed via a web server (CGI, web service, or similar web-facing interface)Affected if The wwwblast component is accessible through a web interface
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Test for XSS via -z1 parameterIf web access is available, submit a test request with a benign script tag in the -z1 parameter and observe if it is reflected unescaped in the responseAffected if The -z1 parameter input is reflected in web output without proper encoding
A system is affected if it runs NCBI ToolBox version 2.0.7 through 2.2.26 with the wwwblast web component accessible and the -z1 parameter reflects unsanitized input in web responses.
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 dataSanitize and encode all user input from the -z1 argument before rendering it in web output; implement input validation to reject unexpected characters.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-16718 — 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-2018-16718 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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