# CVE-2018-5172: Cross-site scripting in Firefox

> Attackers can execute arbitrary scripts in Firefox via clipboard injection in Live Bookmarks or PDF viewer, requiring user interaction.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 11 Jun 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-w752-w9m4-4289, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-5172

## What is CVE-2018-5172?

CVE-2018-5172 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 11 Jun 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

The Live Bookmarks page and the PDF viewer can run injected script content if a user pastes script from the clipboard into them while viewing RSS feeds or PDF files. This could allow a malicious site to socially engineer a user to copy and paste malicious script content that could then run with the context of either page but does not allow for privilege escalation. This vulnerability affects Firefox < 60.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-5172?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Mozilla Firefox.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-5172?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2018-5172 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-5172 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2020-11651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11651/): SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-7247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7247/): OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-16928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16928/): Exim Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-6789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6789/): Exim Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-2590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2590/): Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-5172 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-5172 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 11 Jun 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-5172 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux. 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-2018-5172/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-5172/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-5172
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-5172
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-5172

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-5172/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.