dbcve.org
BackstageApplication · Linuxfoundation

CVE-2024-46976

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.10.13 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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
Backstage is an open framework for building developer portals. An attacker with control of the contents of the TechDocs storage buckets is able to inject executable scripts in the TechDocs content that will be executed in the victim's browser when browsing documentation or navigating to an attacker provided link. This has been fixed in the 1.10.13 release of the `@backstage/plugin-techdocs-backend` package. users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

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

This is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Backstage's TechDocs feature. An attacker who can control the contents of TechDocs storage buckets (such as S3, GCS, or Azure Blob Storage) can inject malicious scripts into documentation content. When users view the affected documentation or click attacker-provided links, the injected scripts execute in their browsers, potentially enabling session hijacking or data theft.

MitigationUpgrade the `@backstage/plugin-techdocs-backend` package to version 1.10.13 or later. There are no available workarounds.

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
BackstageApplication
Affected:< 1.10.13

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Backstage version
    Inspect your package.json or node_modules/@backstage/plugin-techdocs-backend/package.json to find the installed version. Alternatively, run `npm list @backstage/plugin-techdocs-backend` in your Backstage project directory.
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 1.10.13 (for example, 1.10.12, 1.9.0, etc.)
  2. Confirm TechDocs is enabled
    Check your Backstage configuration files (typically app-config.yaml or app-config.local.yaml) for the `techdocs:` section. Also verify that the @backstage/plugin-techdocs and @backstage/plugin-techdocs-backend packages are present in your dependencies.
    Affected if TechDocs is configured and active in your Backstage instance; the vulnerability only applies when TechDocs is enabled.
  3. Identify TechDocs storage backend
    Review your app-config.yaml under `techdocs.builder` and `techdocs.storageUrl` (or equivalent cloud storage configuration) to determine whether documentation is stored in S3, GCS, Azure Blob Storage, or local filesystem.
    Affected if The storage backend is a cloud service (S3, GCS, or Azure Blob Storage) that could potentially be accessed by an attacker to inject malicious content.
  4. Review documentation content for suspicious scripts
    If you have access to the TechDocs storage bucket or local storage directory, examine markdown or HTML files for unexpected `<script>` tags, javascript: URLs, or event handler attributes (onclick, onerror, etc.) embedded in documentation files.
    Affected if Any documentation content contains injected script tags or malicious JavaScript that was not authored by your documentation team.

You are affected if your Backstage deployment uses TechDocs with a version of @backstage/plugin-techdocs-backend lower than 1.10.13 and an attacker could inject content into your documentation storage bucket.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.10.13 or later
Fixed in 1.10.13
Interim mitigation

Upgrade the `@backstage/plugin-techdocs-backend` package to version 1.10.13 or later. There are no available workarounds.

Recommended fix High confidence

@backstage/[email protected] or later

  1. Identify the current version of `@backstage/plugin-techdocs-backend` in your project's dependencies (check package.json or yarn.lock/npm-shrinkwrap.json)
  2. Update `@backstage/plugin-techdocs-backend` to version 1.10.13 or later in your package.json
  3. Run your package manager to install the updated dependency (e.g., `yarn install` or `npm install`)
  4. Verify the updated version is installed correctly
  5. Rebuild and redeploy your Backstage instance to apply the changes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Backstage Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.

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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-2024-46976 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