CVE-2020-11001: Wagtail Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-v2wc-pfq2-5cm6
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CVSS 5.8
CWE-80 CWE-79
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-11001 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.8) cross-site scripting vulnerability (CWE-80: Improper Neutralization of Script-Related HTML Tags in a Web Page (Basic XSS)) affecting Wagtail libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves possible xss attack in wagtail. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.7.2, 2.8.1.

CVE-2020-11001 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-11001
GHSA Identifier GHSA-v2wc-pfq2-5cm6
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.8
CWE Classification CWE-80: Improper Neutralization of Script-Related HTML Tags in a Web Page (Basic XSS)
Affected Product Wagtail
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.8

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

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

How to Fix CVE-2020-11001

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

wagtail fixed: 2.7.2 
pip install wagtail>=2.7.2
wagtail fixed: 2.8.1 
pip install wagtail>=2.8.1
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 wagtail

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2020-11001, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show wagtail

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Wagtail in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.7.2), your application is affected.

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

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-80: Improper Neutralization of Script-Related HTML Tags in a Web Page (Basic XSS), where the product receives input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special characters such as "<", ">", and "&" that could be interpreted as web-scripting elements when they are sent to a downstream component that processes web pages. In Wagtail, 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

### Impact A cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists on the page revision comparison view within the Wagtail admin interface. A user with a limited-permission editor account for the Wagtail admin could potentially craft a page revision history that, when viewed by a user with higher privileges, could perform actions with that user's credentials. The vulnerability is not exploitable by an ordinary site visitor without access to the Wagtail admin. ### Patches Patched versions have been released as Wagtail 2.7.2 (for the LTS 2.7 branch) and Wagtail 2.8.1 (for the current 2.8 branch). ### Workarounds Site owners who are unable to upgrade to the new versions can disable the revision comparison view by adding the following URL route to the top of their project's `urls.py` configuration: from django.views.generic.base import RedirectView urlpatterns = [ url(r'^admin/pages/(\d+)/revisions/compare/', RedirectView.as_view(url='/admin/')), # ... ] ### Acknowledgements Many thanks to Vlad Gerasimenko for reporting this issue. ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Visit Wagtail's [support channels](https://docs.wagtail.io/en/stable/support.html) * Email us at [security@wagtail.io](mailto:security@wagtail.io) (if you wish to send encrypted email, the public key ID is `0x6ba1e1a86e0f8ce8`)

CVE-2020-11001 Affected Wagtail Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.7.22.8.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
wagtail
pypi/wagtail
PyPI
≥ 1.9.0
< 2.7.2
2.7.2
wagtail
pypi/wagtail
PyPI
≥ 2.8.0
< 2.8.1
All 1 versions
2.8.0
2.8.1

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail/security/advisories/GHSA-v2wc-pfq2-5cm6
NVD — CVE-2020-11001 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-11001
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail/commit/61045ceefea114c40ac4b680af58990dbe732389
Wagtail Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/wagtail/PYSEC-2020-152.yaml
Wagtail Release RELEASE
https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail/releases/tag/v2.8.1

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-11001?
CVE-2020-11001 is a security vulnerability in Wagtail involving Possible XSS attack in Wagtail under CWE-80: Improper Neutralization of Script-Related HTML Tags in a Web Page (Basic XSS).
Which Wagtail versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.7.2, 2.8.1 across affected packages: wagtail.
What version fixes CVE-2020-11001?
Upgrading to 2.7.2, 2.8.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is wagtail affected?
Yes, wagtail is affected in releases prior to 2.7.2, 2.8.1. Upgrade your dependency to 2.7.2, 2.8.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-11001?
CVE-2020-11001 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.8 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-11001?
CVE-2020-11001 is classified under CWE-80: Improper Neutralization of Script-Related HTML Tags in a Web Page (Basic XSS) (The product receives input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special characters such as "<", ">", and "&" that could be interpreted as web-scripting elements when they are sent to a downstream component that processes web pages.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2020-11001?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show wagtail'. 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-v2wc-pfq2-5cm6",
  "modified" : "2024-11-19T19:19:49Z",
  "published" : "2020-04-14T23:09:29Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2020-11001" ],
  "summary" : "Possible XSS attack in Wagtail",
  "details" : "### Impact\nA cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists on the page revision comparison view within the Wagtail admin interface. A user with a limited-permission editor account for the Wagtail admin could potentially craft a page revision history that, when viewed by a user with higher privileges, could perform actions with that user's credentials. The vulnerability is not exploitable by an ordinary site visitor without access to the Wagtail admin.\n\n### Patches\nPatched versions have been released as Wagtail 2.7.2 (for the LTS 2.7 branch) and Wagtail 2.8.1 (for the current 2.8 branch).\n\n### Workarounds\nSite owners who are unable to upgrade to the new versions can disable the revision comparison view by adding the following URL route to the top of their project's `urls.py` configuration:\n\n    from django.views.generic.base import RedirectView\n\n    urlpatterns = [\n        url(r'^admin/pages/(\\d+)/revisions/compare/', RedirectView.as_view(url='/admin/')),\n        # ...\n    ]\n\n### Acknowledgements\nMany thanks to Vlad Gerasimenko for reporting this issue.\n\n### For more information\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n* Visit Wagtail's [support channels](https://docs.wagtail.io/en/stable/support.html)\n* Email us at [security@wagtail.io](mailto:security@wagtail.io) (if you wish to send encrypted email, the public key ID is `0x6ba1e1a86e0f8ce8`)",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "wagtail"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "1.9.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.7.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "wagtail"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.8.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.8.1"
      } ]
    } ],
    "versions" : [ "2.8.0" ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail/security/advisories/GHSA-v2wc-pfq2-5cm6"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-11001"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail/commit/61045ceefea114c40ac4b680af58990dbe732389"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/wagtail/PYSEC-2020-152.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail/releases/tag/v2.8.1"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-79", "CWE-80" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-04-14T23:02:21Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2020-04-14T23:15:11Z"
  }
}