Vulnerabilities in pkg:pypi/recommender-xblock

PACKAGE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-3j5x-7ccf-ppgm
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Advisory Summary

CVE-2018-20858 is a MODERATE (CVSS 6.1) cross-site scripting vulnerability (CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')) affecting Recommender xblock libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves cross-site scripting in recommender-xblock. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.3.1.

1 Known Advisory Record(s)
Package Vulnerability Intelligence

pkg:pypi/recommender-xblock

1 Known Advisory Record(s)

Vulnerability advisories affecting package pkg:pypi/recommender-xblock. Select an advisory below to view technical details or fixes.

Advisory ID CVE / NVD Severity Summary
GHSA-3j5x-7ccf-ppgm CVE-2018-20858 MODERATE Cross-site scripting in recommender-xblock

CVE-2018-20858 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2018-20858
GHSA Identifier GHSA-3j5x-7ccf-ppgm
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 6.1
CWE Classification CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Affected Product Recommender xblock
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 6.1

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:C/C:L/I:L/A:N).

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

How to Fix CVE-2018-20858

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

recommender-xblock fixed: 1.3.1 
pip install recommender-xblock>=1.3.1
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 recommender-xblock

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2018-20858, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show recommender-xblock

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Recommender xblock in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.3.1), your application is affected.

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

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 Recommender xblock, 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

Recommender before 1.3.1 allows XSS. It is possible for a learner to craft a fake resource to recommender, that includes script which could possibly steal credentials from staff if they are lured into viewing the recommended resource.

CVE-2018-20858 Affected Recommender xblock Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.3.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
recommender-xblock
pypi/recommender-xblock
PyPI
< 1.3.1
1.3.1

References

NVD — CVE-2018-20858 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20858
Recommender xblock Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/edx/RecommenderXBlock/pull/2
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-3j5x-7ccf-ppgm
Recommender xblock Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/openedx/RecommenderXBlock
Recommender xblock Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/recommender-xblock/PYSEC-2019-219.yaml
groups.google.com/forum/ WEB
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/openedx-announce/SF8Sn6MuUTg

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2018-20858?
CVE-2018-20858 is a security vulnerability in Recommender xblock involving Cross-site scripting in recommender-xblock under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting').
Which Recommender xblock versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.3.1 across affected packages: recommender-xblock.
What version fixes CVE-2018-20858?
Upgrading to 1.3.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is recommender-xblock affected?
Yes, recommender-xblock is affected in releases prior to 1.3.1. Upgrade your dependency to 1.3.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-20858?
CVE-2018-20858 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.1 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2018-20858?
CVE-2018-20858 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 PyPI dependencies for CVE-2018-20858?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show recommender-xblock'. 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-3j5x-7ccf-ppgm",
  "modified" : "2024-10-26T18:36:32Z",
  "published" : "2019-08-21T16:15:33Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2018-20858" ],
  "summary" : "Cross-site scripting in recommender-xblock",
  "details" : "Recommender before 1.3.1 allows XSS. It is possible for a learner to craft a fake resource to recommender, that includes script which could possibly steal credentials from staff if they are lured into viewing the recommended resource.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "recommender-xblock"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.3.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20858"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/edx/RecommenderXBlock/pull/2"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-3j5x-7ccf-ppgm"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openedx/RecommenderXBlock"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/recommender-xblock/PYSEC-2019-219.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/openedx-announce/SF8Sn6MuUTg"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-79" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2019-08-21T16:05:04Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2019-08-09T16:15:00Z"
  }
}