CVE-2021-42838
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 · uneditedGrand Vice info Co. webopac7 book search field parameter does not properly restrict the input of special characters, thus unauthenticated attackers can inject JavaScript syntax remotely, and further perform reflective XSS attacks.
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 confidenceGrand Vice info Co. webopac7 contains a reflective cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the book search field parameter. The application fails to properly restrict or sanitize special characters in user input, allowing unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code that executes in the victim's browser when the search results are displayed.
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= 1.8.20160701= 7.1.20160701CVSS 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 webopac7 installation and versionLocate the Grand Vice webopac7 application on the system. Check for version files, installation directories, or query the application for its version number. Common locations may include the application root directory or version information embedded in the web interface.Affected if The installed version matches 1.8.20160701 or 7.1.20160701
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Verify web search interface is enabledConfirm that the web-based search functionality is accessible and enabled on the system. Check the application configuration or attempt to access the search page via the web interface.Affected if The web search interface is enabled and accessible to users
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Check if the search parameter accepts user inputAccess the search functionality through the webopac7 web interface. Locate the book search field and confirm it accepts user-supplied text strings as input.Affected if The search field accepts user input without being disabled or restricted
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Inspect input handling configurationReview the application configuration files or source code related to the search functionality. Look for input validation, sanitization, or encoding settings applied to the search parameter.Affected if No input validation or sanitization is configured for the search parameter, or special characters are not being filtered
You are affected if webopac7 version 1.8.20160701 or 7.1.20160701 is installed, the web search interface is enabled, and no input sanitization is applied to the search field parameter.
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 dataImplement proper input validation and output encoding on the server side. Sanitize or reject special characters (<, >, ', ", javascript:, etc.) in the search parameter, and ensure all user-supplied data is properly escaped before being rendered in HTML responses.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-42838 — 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-2021-42838 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data