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NotebookApplication · Jupyter

CVE-2018-8768

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-03-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.1 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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
In Jupyter Notebook before 5.4.1, a maliciously forged notebook file can bypass sanitization to execute JavaScript in the notebook context. Specifically, invalid HTML is 'fixed' by jQuery after sanitization, making it dangerous.

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

A cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Jupyter Notebook before version 5.4.1 allows maliciously crafted notebook files to execute arbitrary JavaScript in the notebook context. The attack exploits jQuery's HTML parsing behavior, which 'fixes' invalid HTML after sanitization has been applied, effectively bypassing security controls.

MitigationUpgrade Jupyter Notebook to version 5.4.1 or later to remediate this vulnerability, and exercise caution when opening notebook files from untrusted or unknown sources.

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
NotebookApplication
Affected:< 5.4.1

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Identify Jupyter Notebook version
    Run 'jupyter --version' or 'pip show jupyter' in your terminal to retrieve the installed version number
    Affected if The version displayed is lower than 5.4.1 (e.g., 5.4.0, 5.3.x, 5.2.x, etc.)
  2. Confirm notebook usage context
    Determine whether you or your users open .ipynb notebook files from external or untrusted sources
    Affected if You regularly open notebook files received from others, download them from the internet, or process files from unknown origin
  3. Check for custom HTML sanitization
    Inspect your notebook configuration or any custom middleware that handles notebook rendering for HTML content sanitization settings
    Affected if Custom or third-party sanitization is in use that processes notebook cell output before rendering

You are affected if Jupyter Notebook version is below 5.4.1 and you process notebook files from external or untrusted sources, as the vulnerability allows arbitrary JavaScript execution through maliciously crafted notebook content.

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 5.4.1 or later
Fixed in 5.4.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Jupyter Notebook to version 5.4.1 or later to remediate this vulnerability, and exercise caution when opening notebook files from untrusted or unknown sources.

Fix this in Notebook Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,210
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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-2018-8768 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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