# CVE-2019-16957: Cross-site scripting in n/a

> An attacker can inject malicious scripts via the First Name field in SolarWinds Web Help Desk, potentially leading to session hijacking or code execution.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.4 (`CVSS:3.1/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:** 18 Dec 2020
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mcv5-rv2r-2h7w

## What is CVE-2019-16957?

CVE-2019-16957 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in n/a, published on 18 Dec 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

SolarWinds Web Help Desk 12.7.0 allows XSS via the First Name field of a User Account.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-16957?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Solarwinds Webhelpdesk.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-16957?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-16957 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-16957 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-16957 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2021-35254](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-35254/): Authenticated Remote Code Execution in WebHelpDesk 12.7.8 (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2019-20002](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-20002/): Other in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2021-35232](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-35232/): Hard credentials discovered in SolarWinds Web Help Desk which allows to execute Arbitrary Hibernate Queries (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2019-16959](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16959/): Other in n/a (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2019-16955](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16955/): Cross-site scripting in n/a (medium 5.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-16957 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-16957 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in n/a, published on 18 Dec 2020. 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-2019-16957 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2019-16957/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16957/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-16957
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-16957
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-16957

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16957/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.