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DotcmsApplication

CVE-2018-19554

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-11-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 5.0.3 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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 Dotcms through 5.0.3. Attackers may perform XSS attacks via the inode, identifier, or fieldName parameter in html/js/dotcms/dijit/image/image_tool.jsp.

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

Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in DotCMS through version 5.0.3. The image_tool.jsp file does not properly sanitize user input in the inode, identifier, and fieldName parameters, allowing attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code that executes in the context of a user's browser.

MitigationApply proper input validation and output encoding to the inode, identifier, and fieldName parameters in image_tool.jsp. Implement context-aware sanitization (HTML encoding) for all user-supplied values before rendering them in the response.

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
DotcmsApplication
Affected:<= 5.0.3

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
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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. Verify DotCMS installation exists
    Check for the presence of DotCMS web application files or check running web server processes for DotCMS
    Affected if DotCMS is not installed on the system
  2. Determine DotCMS version
    Locate the version file or check the management interface for the installed DotCMS version number
    Affected if Installed version is 5.0.3 or any earlier version (5.0.3 and below)
  3. Locate image_tool.jsp file
    Search the DotCMS web root directory for the image_tool.jsp file
    Affected if The image_tool.jsp file exists in the web application directory
  4. Verify vulnerable parameters are accepted
    Submit a test request to image_tool.jsp with the inode, identifier, or fieldName parameters to confirm they are processed by the application
    Affected if The application accepts and reflects back the parameter values without sanitization

You are affected if DotCMS version 5.0.3 or lower is installed and the image_tool.jsp file with its inode, identifier, and fieldName parameters is accessible in your environment.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 5.0.3
Interim mitigation

Apply proper input validation and output encoding to the inode, identifier, and fieldName parameters in image_tool.jsp. Implement context-aware sanitization (HTML encoding) for all user-supplied values before rendering them in the response.

Fix this in Dotcms Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

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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-2018-19554 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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