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Electron webPreferences vulnerability can be used to perform remote code execution

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Aug 23, 2018 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Jan 11, 2023

Package

npm electron (npm)

Affected versions

>= 1.7.0, < 1.7.16
>= 1.8.0, < 1.8.8
>= 2.0.0, < 2.0.8
>= 3.0.0-beta.1, < 3.0.0-beta.7

Patched versions

1.7.16
1.8.8
2.0.8
3.0.0-beta.7

Description

GitHub Electron 1.7.15, 1.8.7, 2.0.7, and 3.0.0-beta.6, in certain scenarios involving IFRAME elements and "nativeWindowOpen: true" or "sandbox: true" options, is affected by a webPreferences vulnerability that can be leveraged to perform remote code execution.

More information to determine if you are impacted can be found on the electron blog.

Recommendation

Upgrade Electron to >=3.0.0-beta.7, >=2.0.8, >=1.8.8, or >=1.7.16.

References

Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Aug 23, 2018
Reviewed Jun 16, 2020
Last updated Jan 11, 2023

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS score

2.260%
(89th percentile)

Weaknesses

CVE ID

CVE-2018-15685

GHSA ID

GHSA-hv9c-qwqg-qj3v

Source code

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