CVE-2018-13796: Mailman Moderate Severity Vulnerability That Affects Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-xqvg-xm9m-p2c4
Share
CVSS 6.5
CWE-20
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2018-13796 is a MODERATE (CVSS 6.5) moderate severity vulnerability that affects vulnerability (CWE-20: Improper Input Validation) affecting Mailman libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves moderate severity vulnerability that affects mailman. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.1.28.

CVE-2018-13796 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2018-13796
GHSA Identifier GHSA-xqvg-xm9m-p2c4
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 6.5
CWE Classification CWE-20: Improper Input Validation
Affected Product Mailman
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 6.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2018-13796

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Mailman dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

mailman fixed: 2.1.28 
pip install mailman>=2.1.28
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show mailman

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2018-13796, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show mailman

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Mailman in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.1.28), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show mailman command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation, where the product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. In Mailman, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

An issue was discovered in GNU Mailman before 2.1.28. A crafted URL can cause arbitrary text to be displayed on a web page from a trusted site.

CVE-2018-13796 Affected Mailman Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.1.28
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
mailman
pypi/mailman
PyPI
< 2.1.28
2.1.28

References

NVD — CVE-2018-13796 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-13796
bugs.launchpad.net/mailman/+bug/178087... WEB
https://bugs.launchpad.net/mailman/+bug/1780874
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-xqvg-xm9m-p2c4
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/07/msg00034.html
Mailman Security Information SECURITY
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201904-10
usn.ubuntu.com/4348-1 WEB
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4348-1
www.mail-archive.com/mailman-users@pytho... WEB
https://www.mail-archive.com/mailman-users@python.org/msg71003.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2018-13796?
CVE-2018-13796 is a security vulnerability in Mailman involving Moderate severity vulnerability that affects mailman under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation.
Which Mailman versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.1.28 across affected packages: mailman.
What version fixes CVE-2018-13796?
Upgrading to 2.1.28 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is mailman affected?
Yes, mailman is affected in releases prior to 2.1.28. Upgrade your dependency to 2.1.28 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-13796?
CVE-2018-13796 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.5 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2018-13796?
CVE-2018-13796 is classified under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation (The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2018-13796?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show mailman'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-xqvg-xm9m-p2c4",
  "modified" : "2021-09-22T16:31:46Z",
  "published" : "2018-09-11T18:57:16Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2018-13796" ],
  "summary" : "Moderate severity vulnerability that affects mailman",
  "details" : "An issue was discovered in GNU Mailman before 2.1.28. A crafted URL can cause arbitrary text to be displayed on a web page from a trusted site.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "mailman"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.1.28"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-13796"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugs.launchpad.net/mailman/+bug/1780874"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-xqvg-xm9m-p2c4"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/07/msg00034.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201904-10"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://usn.ubuntu.com/4348-1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.mail-archive.com/mailman-users@python.org/msg71003.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-20" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T22:04:19Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}