CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-5299 — Octobercms October security vulnerability

Medium CVSS 5.1

In OctoberCMS (october/october composer package) versions from 1.0.319 and before 1.0.466, any users with the ability to modify any data that could eventually be exported as a CSV file from the `ImportExportController` could potentially introduce a CSV injection into the data to cause the generated CSV export file to be malicious. This requires attackers to achieve the following before a successful attack can be completed: 1. Have found a vulnerability in the victims spreadsheet software of choice. 2. Control data that would potentially be exported through the `ImportExportController` by a theoretical victim. 3. Convince the victim to export above data as a CSV and run it in vulnerable spreadsheet software while also bypassing any sanity checks by said software. Issue has been patched in Build 466 (v1.0.466).

Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.1 (3.1)
Published
2020-06-03
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-77

Affected products

  • octobercms / october

Matched remediation archetype

Command, code, expression, and template injection

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
  • Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
  • Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.

Remediate safely

  • Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
  • Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
  • Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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