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Webcenter InteractionApplication · Oracle

CVE-2018-16958

MEDIUM · 5.4 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 →
61/100
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
An issue was discovered in Oracle WebCenter Interaction Portal 10.3.3. The ASP.NET_SessionID primary session cookie, when Internet Information Services (IIS) with ASP.NET is used, is not protected with the HttpOnly attribute. The attribute cannot be enabled by customers. Consequently, this cookie is exposed to session hijacking attacks should an adversary be able to execute JavaScript in the origin of the portal installation. 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 · high confidence

The ASP.NET_SessionID session cookie in Oracle WebCenter Interaction Portal 10.3.3 is not protected with the HttpOnly attribute, allowing JavaScript access to the session identifier. This enables session hijacking if an attacker can inject malicious JavaScript into the portal (e.g., via stored XSS). The HttpOnly flag cannot be enabled by customers through configuration.

MitigationSince the product is out of support and no vendor patch is available, implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or reverse proxy to inject the HttpOnly attribute into the session cookie. Additionally, harden the application against XSS to reduce the likelihood of the prerequisite JavaScript execution.

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/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 installation
    Locate the installation directory, typically under 'C:\Program Files\Oracle\WebCenter Interaction' or '/opt/oracle/webservice' on Linux. Check for 'portal' or 'wci' directories.
    Affected if The software is not installed on this system, then CVE does not apply.
  2. Verify installed version is 10.3.3
    Check version files such as 'version.txt', 'readme', or the installer log in the installation directory. Alternatively, access the portal's 'About' page or check the Windows Registry under 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Oracle\WebCenter Interaction' for the Version value.
    Affected if Version is exactly 10.3.3, proceed to cookie check.
  3. Capture the ASP.NET_SessionID cookie
    Log into the WebCenter Interaction Portal. Open browser Developer Tools (F12), go to the Application or Storage tab, and locate cookies under the portal's domain. Identify the cookie named 'ASP.NET_SessionID'.
    Affected if No ASP.NET_SessionID cookie exists, the portal may not be using session-based authentication.
  4. Inspect HttpOnly attribute on the session cookie
    In browser Developer Tools, examine the ASP.NET_SessionID cookie details. Check whether the 'HttpOnly' flag is listed as enabled. Alternatively, use a command-line tool like 'curl -v <portal-url>' to capture response headers and look for 'Set-Cookie: ASP.NET_SessionID=...' to see if HttpOnly is present.
    Affected if The HttpOnly attribute is absent or not set on the ASP.NET_SessionID cookie, the system is vulnerable to this CVE.

If Oracle WebCenter Interaction Portal version 10.3.3 is installed AND the ASP.NET_SessionID cookie lacks the HttpOnly attribute, the environment is affected by CVE-2018-16958.

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

Since the product is out of support and no vendor patch is available, implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or reverse proxy to inject the HttpOnly attribute into the session cookie. Additionally, harden the application against XSS to reduce the likelihood of the prerequisite JavaScript execution.

Fix this in Webcenter Interaction Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2018-16958 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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