MediumCVE-2020-9281

    CKEditor: Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) (CVE-2020-9281)

    Published Last modified Sources: CVE.org, OSV

    What is affected, what to do

    A cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the HTML Data Processor for CKEditor 4.0 before 4.14 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script through a crafted "protected" comment (with the cke_protected syntax).

    Update CKEditor to version 4.14, Drupal core to version 8.7.12, Drupal core to version 8.8.4.

    Affected
    • CKEditor lt 4.0..4.14
    • Fedora eq 30..30
    • Fedora eq 31..31
    • Fedora eq 32..32
    • Drupal core lt 8.7.0..8.7.12
    • Drupal core lt 8.8.0..8.8.4
    • Oracle Agile PLM eq 9.3.5..9.3.5
    • Oracle Agile PLM eq 9.3.6..9.3.6
    • Oracle Application Express lt *..20.2
    • Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools lt *..9.2.5.2
    • Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools eq 8.56..8.56
    • Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools eq 8.57..8.57
    • Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools eq 8.58..8.58
    • Oracle Siebel Apps - Customer Order Management lt *..21.0
    • Oracle WebCenter Portal eq 11.1.1.9.0..11.1.1.9.0
    • Oracle WebCenter Portal eq 12.2.1.3.0..12.2.1.3.0
    • Oracle WebCenter Portal eq 12.2.1.4.0..12.2.1.4.0
    • Oracle Banking Enterprise Default Management eq 2.6.2..2.6.2
    • Oracle Banking Enterprise Default Management eq 2.7.0..2.7.0
    • Oracle Banking Enterprise Default Management eq 2.7.1..2.7.1
    • Oracle Banking Enterprise Default Management eq 2.10.0..2.10.0
    • Oracle Banking Enterprise Default Management eq 2.12.0..2.12.0
    • Oracle Banking Enterprise Default Managment lte 2.3.0..2.4.0
    Fixed in
    • CKEditor 4.14
    • Drupal core 8.7.12
    • Drupal core 8.8.4
    • Oracle Application Express 20.2
    • Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 9.2.5.2
    • Oracle Siebel Apps - Customer Order Management 21.0

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    6.1

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    6.1

    CVSS v3

    Severity Medium on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: CVE.org, OSV

    4.3 %

    EPSS score

    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 91.1

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Medium
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    96.89 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    6.1 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    6.1
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    4.3 %
    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    91.1
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Handle the vulnerability in regular vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    A cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the HTML Data Processor for CKEditor 4.0 before 4.14 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script through a crafted "protected" comment (with the cke_protected syntax).

    Source: cvelistv5, NVD (NIST), OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    ckeditorckeditor
    • 4.0 – < 4.14
    • 4.14
    drupaldrupal
    • 8.8.0 – < 8.8.4
    • 8.7.0 – < 8.7.12
    • 8.8.4
    • 8.7.12
    oracleagile_product_lifecycle_management
    • 9.3.5
    • 9.3.6
    • —
    • —
    oracleapplication_express
    • < 20.2
    • 20.2
    oraclebanking_enterprise_default_management
    • 2.12.0
    • 2.10.0
    • 2.7.0
    • 2.7.1
    • 2.6.2
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    oraclebanking_enterprise_default_managment
    • 2.3.0 – ≤ 2.4.0
    • —
    oraclejd_edwards_enterpriseone_tools
    • < 9.2.5.2
    • 9.2.5.2
    oraclepeoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools
    • 8.58
    • 8.56
    • —
    • 8.57
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    oraclesiebel_apps_-_customer_order_management
    • < 21.0
    • 21.0
    oraclewebcenter_portal
    • 12.2.1.3.0
    • 11.1.1.9.0
    • 12.2.1.4.0
    • —
    • —
    • —
    npmckeditor4
    • —
    • —

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Otherfedoraprojectfedora30
    Otherfedoraprojectfedora31
    Otherfedoraprojectfedora32

    References & sources

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. Product identifiers remappedNVD

      Product mapping changed:
      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Product configurationchanged
      OR *cpe:2.3:a:oracle:agile_plm:9.3.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
      OR *cpe:2.3:a:oracle:agile_product_lifecycle_management:9.3.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

      Source identifier: nvd@nist.gov

    2. Product identifiers remappedNVD

      Product mapping changed:
      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Product configurationchanged
      OR *cpe:2.3:a:oracle:agile_plm:9.3.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
      OR *cpe:2.3:a:oracle:agile_product_lifecycle_management:9.3.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

      Source identifier: nvd@nist.gov

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