# CVE-2016-0218: Cross-site scripting in Cognos Business Intelligence

> Remote attackers can execute scripts in victims' browsers via crafted URLs to steal authentication credentials in IBM Cognos Analytics.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.4 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 1 Feb 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vq37-vvmq-jwxp

## What is CVE-2016-0218?

CVE-2016-0218 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in IBM Corporation Cognos Business Intelligence, published on 1 Feb 2017. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

IBM Cognos Business Intelligence and IBM Cognos Analytics are vulnerable to cross-site scripting, caused by improper validation of user-supplied input.  A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability using a specially-crafted URL to execute script in a victim's Web browser within the security context of the hosting Web site, once the URL is clicked.  An attacker could use this vulnerability to steal the victim's cookie-based authentication credentials.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-0218?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Cognos Business Intelligence.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-0218?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-0218 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-0218 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-0218 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in IBM Corporation Cognos Business Intelligence

- [CVE-2012-4858](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4858/): Deserialization in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2016-8960](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8960/): Privilege escalation in Cognos Business Intelligence (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2016-3036](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-3036/): Memory corruption in Cognos TM1 (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2017-1764](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-1764/): Information disclosure in Cognos Business Intelligence (high 7.0)
- [CVE-2016-0254](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-0254/): XML external entity in Cognos Business Intelligence (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-0218 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-0218 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in IBM Corporation Cognos Business Intelligence, published on 1 Feb 2017. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-0218 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: IBM Corporation Cognos Business Intelligence. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-0218/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-0218/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-0218
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-0218
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-0218

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-0218/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.