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Webcenter InteractionApplication · Oracle

CVE-2018-16953

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-09-18
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
The AjaxView::DisplayResponse() function of the portalpages.dll assembly in Oracle WebCenter Interaction Portal 10.3.3 is vulnerable to reflected cross-site scripting (XSS). User input from the name parameter is unsafely reflected in the server response. NOTE: this CVE is assigned by MITRE and isn't validated by Oracle because Oracle WebCenter Interaction Portal is out of support.

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 confidence

Reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Oracle WebCenter Interaction Portal 10.3.3. The AjaxView::DisplayResponse() function in portalpages.dll insecurely reflects user-supplied input from the 'name' parameter directly into the server response without proper sanitization, allowing arbitrary JavaScript execution in the context of the victim's browser.

MitigationImplement output encoding for all user-controlled input reflected in responses, or deploy a WAF with XSS filtering rules. Since Oracle WebCenter Interaction is end-of-life and will not receive patches, consider migrating to a supported platform or implementing compensating controls such as input validation and CSP headers.

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
Webcenter InteractionApplication
Affected:= 10.3.3

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:3.0/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm Oracle WebCenter Interaction Portal is installed
    Look for the installation directory (typically under C:\Oracle\Middleware\Oracle_WCX\ or similar paths on Windows, or /opt/Oracle/ on Linux), or check for the 'Oracle WebCenter Interaction' service running on the system.
    Affected if The product is not installed or no longer present on the system.
  2. Verify the installed version is 10.3.3
    Check the portal's version information. On Windows, right-click on the 'portalpages.dll' file in the portal's bin directory, select Properties, and view the Version tab. Alternatively, check the installer log or the 'version.properties' file in the portal configuration directory.
    Affected if The version is not exactly 10.3.3 - other versions may have different vulnerabilities or fixes.
  3. Confirm the portal is accessible and running
    Attempt to access the portal's login page or main URL (typically http://hostname/portal/ or https://hostname/portal/). Verify the HTTP service responds.
    Affected if The portal is not accessible or not running - the reflected XSS requires an active HTTP request to trigger.
  4. Verify portalpages.dll exists
    Locate the 'portalpages.dll' file in the portal's bin directory (for example, C:\Oracle\Middleware\Oracle_WCX\portal\bin\portalpages.dll). Confirm the file exists and note its file size and version info.
    Affected if The file is missing or significantly modified from the expected Oracle binary.
  5. Check if AjaxView module is accessible
    Attempt to access an AjaxView endpoint URL pattern such as /portal/ajaxview?action=display&name=test or check if the portal's URL routing exposes the AjaxView functionality. Consult the portal's documentation for available service endpoints.
    Affected if The AjaxView functionality is disabled or not exposed through the web server.

A user is affected only if Oracle WebCenter Interaction Portal version 10.3.3 is installed, the portal is running and accessible, and the AjaxView functionality is enabled, allowing the 'name' parameter to be reflected without sanitization.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement output encoding for all user-controlled input reflected in responses, or deploy a WAF with XSS filtering rules. Since Oracle WebCenter Interaction is end-of-life and will not receive patches, consider migrating to a supported platform or implementing compensating controls such as input validation and CSP headers.

Fix this in Webcenter Interaction Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2018-16953 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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