CVE-2018-18307: Withdrawn Advisory Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-7mj4-2984-955f
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CVSS 5.9
CWE-79
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2018-18307 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.9) cross-site scripting vulnerability (CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')) affecting Withdrawn Advisory libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves alchemycms is vulnerable to stored xss via the /admin/pictures image field. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2018-18307 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2018-18307
GHSA Identifier GHSA-7mj4-2984-955f
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.9
CWE Classification CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Affected Product Withdrawn Advisory
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.9

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required High (PR:H)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Changed (S:C)
Confidentiality Low (C:L)
Integrity Low (I:L)
Availability Low (A:L)

How to Fix CVE-2018-18307

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Withdrawn Advisory dependencies to a patched release.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

alchemy_cms fixed: Latest secure release 
Upgrade alchemy_cms to Latest secure release
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

inspect dependencies for alchemy_cms

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2018-18307, inspect your project dependencies for Withdrawn Advisory:

inspect dependencies for alchemy_cms

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Withdrawn Advisory in your dependency tree.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

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting'), where the product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users. In Withdrawn Advisory, 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

## Withdrawn Advisory This advisory has been withdrawn because it does not describe a vulnerability. The maintainer states the following: > The researcher used an authorized cookie to perform the request to a password-protected route. Without that session cookie, the request would have been rejected as unauthorized. ## Original Description A Stored XSS vulnerability has been discovered in version 4.1.0 of AlchemyCMS via the /admin/pictures image field.

CVE-2018-18307 Affected Withdrawn Advisory Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
alchemy_cms
gem/alchemy_cms
RubyGems
4.1.0
All 1 versions
4.1.0
None specified

References

NVD — CVE-2018-18307 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-18307
Withdrawn Advisory Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/AlchemyCMS/alchemy_cms
Withdrawn Advisory Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/AlchemyCMS/alchemy_cms/blob/4.1-stable/app/controllers/alchemy/admin/base_controller.rb#L15
Withdrawn Advisory Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/AlchemyCMS/alchemy_cms/blob/4.1-stable/app/controllers/alchemy/admin/pictures_controller.rb#L5
Withdrawn Advisory Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/AlchemyCMS/alchemy_cms/blob/4.1-stable/app/controllers/alchemy/admin/resources_controller.rb#L21
Withdrawn Advisory Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/alchemy_cms/CVE-2018-18307.yml
www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45601 WEB
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45601
Withdrawn Advisory Security Information SECURITY
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/149787/Alchemy-CMS-4.1-Stable-Cross-Site-Scripting.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2018-18307?
CVE-2018-18307 is a security vulnerability in Withdrawn Advisory involving AlchemyCMS is vulnerable to stored XSS via the /admin/pictures image field under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting').
Which Withdrawn Advisory versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: alchemy_cms.
What version fixes CVE-2018-18307?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is alchemy_cms affected?
Yes, alchemy_cms is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-18307?
CVE-2018-18307 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.9 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2018-18307?
CVE-2018-18307 is classified under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') (The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2018-18307?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for alchemy_cms'. 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-7mj4-2984-955f",
  "modified" : "2025-08-29T20:34:47Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-14T01:57:26Z",
  "withdrawn" : "2025-08-29T20:34:47Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2018-18307" ],
  "summary" : "Withdrawn Advisory: AlchemyCMS is vulnerable to stored XSS via the /admin/pictures image field",
  "details" : "## Withdrawn Advisory\n\nThis advisory has been withdrawn because it does not describe a vulnerability. The maintainer states the following:\n\n> The researcher used an authorized cookie to perform the request to a password-protected route. Without that session cookie, the request would have been rejected as unauthorized.\n\n## Original Description\n\nA Stored XSS vulnerability has been discovered in version 4.1.0 of AlchemyCMS via the /admin/pictures image field.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "alchemy_cms"
    },
    "versions" : [ "4.1.0" ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-18307"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/AlchemyCMS/alchemy_cms"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/AlchemyCMS/alchemy_cms/blob/4.1-stable/app/controllers/alchemy/admin/base_controller.rb#L15"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/AlchemyCMS/alchemy_cms/blob/4.1-stable/app/controllers/alchemy/admin/pictures_controller.rb#L5"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/AlchemyCMS/alchemy_cms/blob/4.1-stable/app/controllers/alchemy/admin/resources_controller.rb#L21"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/alchemy_cms/CVE-2018-18307.yml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45601"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/149787/Alchemy-CMS-4.1-Stable-Cross-Site-Scripting.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-79" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-08-01T20:57:57Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2018-10-16T22:29:00Z"
  }
}