CVE-2020-27989
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 · uneditedNagios XI before 5.7.5 is vulnerable to XSS in Dashboard Tools (Edit Dashboard).
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 confidenceNagios XI before 5.7.5 contains a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Dashboard Tools functionality, specifically within the Edit Dashboard feature. Attackers can inject malicious JavaScript through dashboard parameters that execute in the browsers of other users viewing the affected dashboard.
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< 5.7.5CVSS 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:3.1/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Nagios XI installation and versionLocate the Nagios XI instance and determine the installed version number (typically found in the admin interface, about page, or version file within the Nagios installation directory)Affected if The installed version is below 5.7.5 (for example, 5.7.4, 5.7.3, 5.6.x, etc.)
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Verify access to Dashboard Tools featureLog into the Nagios XI web interface and navigate to the Dashboard or Edit Dashboard functionality. Determine if the user has permissions to create or modify dashboardsAffected if The Dashboard Tools/Edit Dashboard feature is accessible and the user can create or modify dashboard configurations
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Check for existing dashboard configurationsExamine the dashboards configured in the system through the Nagios XI interface or backend database to see what dashboard parameters are in useAffected if Any dashboards exist in the system that could contain user-supplied parameters
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Inspect dashboard parameters for potential XSS payloadsReview the source code or configuration of existing dashboards, looking for unsanitized input in dashboard parameters such as titles, widget configurations, or custom fieldsAffected if Dashboard parameters contain unsanitized JavaScript or HTML content that could execute in a user's browser when the dashboard is viewed
A user is affected if they are running Nagios XI version 5.7.4 or lower AND have access to the Edit Dashboard feature where unsanitized dashboard parameters can be viewed by other 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 data5.7.5
Update Nagios XI to version 5.7.5 or later to receive the vendor patch. Alternatively, implement output encoding and input validation on dashboard edit parameters to neutralize XSS vectors.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-27989 — 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-2020-27989 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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