CVE-2020-13653
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 · uneditedAn XSS vulnerability exists in the Webmail component of Zimbra Collaboration Suite before 8.8.15 Patch 11. It allows an attacker to inject executable JavaScript into the account name of a user's profile. The injected code can be reflected and executed when changing an e-mail signature.
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 confidenceA stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in the Zimbra Webmail component. Attackers can inject malicious JavaScript into a user's account name field in their profile. The injected payload is then reflected and executed when the user modifies their email signature, allowing session hijacking or other client-side attacks.
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< 8.8.15= 8.8.15CVSS 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:3.1/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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Identify Zimbra installation and versionLocate the Zimbra Collaboration Suite installation and determine the exact version number installed in your environmentAffected if The installed version is 8.8.15 or any version lower than 8.8.15 (e.g., 8.8.14, 8.8.13, earlier releases)
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Confirm Zimbra Webmail component is accessibleVerify that the Zimbra Webmail interface is deployed and accessible to users in your environmentAffected if The Webmail component is reachable and users can log in to their accounts
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Verify user profile feature is availableCheck whether users have access to modify their account profile settings, specifically the account name fieldAffected if Users can access their profile settings and modify account-related fields
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Confirm signature editing functionality is exposedDetermine if the email signature editing feature within Webmail is enabled and accessible to end usersAffected if Users can create or modify their email signatures through the Webmail interface
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Assess external exposureEvaluate whether the Webmail interface is exposed to the internet or accessible to untrusted networksAffected if The Zimbra Webmail is externally accessible without adequate network segmentation or authentication controls
Your environment is affected if Zimbra Collaboration Suite version 8.8.15 or any version below 8.8.15 is installed and the Webmail component with signature editing functionality is accessible to users.
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 data8.8.15
Upgrade Zimbra Collaboration Suite to version 8.8.15 Patch 11 or later to resolve the vulnerability. As a temporary measure, restrict access to the signature editing functionality until the patch can be applied.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-13653 — 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-2020-13653 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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