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DjangoFramework / library · Djangoproject

CVE-2019-12308

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-06-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.11.21 / 2.1.9 or later.
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
An issue was discovered in Django 1.11 before 1.11.21, 2.1 before 2.1.9, and 2.2 before 2.2.2. The clickable Current URL value displayed by the AdminURLFieldWidget displays the provided value without validating it as a safe URL. Thus, an unvalidated value stored in the database, or a value provided as a URL query parameter payload, could result in an clickable JavaScript link.

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 AdminURLFieldWidget in Django admin fails to validate URL values before rendering them as clickable links, allowing untrusted JavaScript URLs (e.g., javascript:alert(1)) to be stored in the database or passed via query parameters and then rendered as executable links in the admin interface. This is a stored/reflected XSS vulnerability in Django's administrative interface.

MitigationUpgrade Django to version 1.11.21, 2.1.9, 2.2.2 or later to receive the security patch. Alternatively, audit admin views using AdminURLFieldWidget and implement URL validation/sanitization before rendering.

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
DjangoFramework / library
Affected:>= 1.11, < 1.11.21>= 2.1, < 2.1.9>= 2.2, < 2.2.2

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. Identify Django version
    Run 'python -c "import django; print(django.get_version())"' or check your requirements.txt/environment for the installed Django package version
    Affected if The installed version falls within >= 1.11 and < 1.11.21, >= 2.1 and < 2.1.9, or >= 2.2 and < 2.2.2
  2. Confirm admin is enabled
    Check your settings.py for 'django.contrib.admin' in INSTALLED_APPS and verify admin URLs are included in your URL configuration (usually in urls.py)
    Affected if Admin interface is active and accessible in your environment
  3. Identify AdminURLFieldWidget usage
    Search your project for 'AdminURLFieldWidget' or 'admin.widgets.AdminURLFieldWidget' imports in admin.py files, or search for 'URLField' with 'widget=AdminURLFieldWidget' in model admin registrations
    Affected if Any model admin classes explicitly use AdminURLFieldWidget for URL fields
  4. Audit models for URLField usage in admin
    Examine your Django models that have URLField and are registered with Django admin. Check the admin.py files to see which URL fields are displayed in the admin interface
    Affected if URLField model fields are displayed in the admin using default or custom URL widgets
  5. Inspect database for javascript: URLs
    Query your database tables that store URLField data. Look for records containing 'javascript:' scheme in URL fields (e.g., SELECT * FROM your_table WHERE url_column LIKE 'javascript:%')
    Affected if Any stored URLs begin with 'javascript:' or other potentially executable schemes
  6. Review URL query parameters in admin requests
    Check HTTP request logs or live traffic for admin pages where the URL parameter contains 'javascript:' or similar schemes (e.g., ?url=javascript:alert(1))
    Affected if Query parameters passed to admin views contain unvalidated javascript: or other dangerous URL schemes

You are affected if your Django version is in the vulnerable ranges AND the admin interface is active AND you use URLField in models displayed in admin, especially if javascript: URLs are found stored or passed as parameters.

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 1.11.21 / 2.1.9 / 2.2.2 or later
Fixed in 1.11.212.1.92.2.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Django to version 1.11.21, 2.1.9, 2.2.2 or later to receive the security patch. Alternatively, audit admin views using AdminURLFieldWidget and implement URL validation/sanitization before rendering.

Fix this in Django Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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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-2019-12308 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