CVE-2018-6182
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 · uneditedMahara 16.10 before 16.10.9 and 17.04 before 17.04.7 and 17.10 before 17.10.4 are vulnerable to bad input when TinyMCE is bypassed by POST packages. Therefore, Mahara should not rely on TinyMCE's code stripping alone but also clean input on the server / PHP side as one can create own packets of POST data containing bad content with which to hit the server.
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 confidenceMahara before versions 16.10.9, 17.04.7, and 17.10.4 is vulnerable to improper input validation. The application relies on TinyMCE's client-side content stripping to prevent malicious input, but attackers can bypass this by crafting custom POST packets directly. This allows injection of potentially malicious content through the server without client-side filtering.
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>= 16.10, < 16.10.9>= 17.04, < 17.04.7>= 17.10, < 17.10.4CVSS 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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Check the installed Mahara versionLocate the version file or admin panel in your Mahara installation and note the exact version numberAffected if The version is 16.10.x before 16.10.9, 17.04.x before 17.04.7, or 17.10.x before 17.10.4
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Verify if TinyMCE WYSIWYG editor is in useCheck your Mahara configuration files and look for TinyMCE settings or the presence of TinyMCE-related code in the HTML source of pages with rich text editorsAffected if TinyMCE is enabled and used for any user-generated content fields such as portfolios, journals, or resumes
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Identify all user input forms using rich text editorsReview your Mahara installation pages and identify forms that accept HTML content through WYSIWYG editors (typically found in artefact plugin types like blog, resume, annotation)Affected if Any form fields submit rich text/HTML content without additional server-side validation beyond what TinyMCE provides
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Check how POST data is processed for content submissionExamine theartefact plugin PHP files that handle form submissions, specifically looking for how the 'html' or 'description' fields are received and storedAffected if The application accepts and stores the raw POST content without performing server-side sanitization on the server side of the request handler
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Confirm whether server-side input filtering existsReview the PHP code that processes WYSIWYG editor output and determine if there is explicit server-side validation or sanitization functions applied to the submitted contentAffected if The only validation performed is client-side content stripping provided by TinyMCE with no additional server-side validation routine
You are affected if your Mahara version falls within the affected ranges AND TinyMCE is used for user-submitted content without server-side validation in place.
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 data16.10.917.04.717.10.4
Implement server-side (PHP) input validation and sanitization for all user inputs, especially those from WYSIWYG editors. Do not rely solely on client-side filtering for security-critical operations.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6182 — 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-2018-6182 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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