--- title: "TYPO3-CORE-SA-2012-004: Several Vulnerabilities in TYPO3 Core" url: "https://news.typo3.com/security/advisory/typo3-core-sa-2012-004" description: It has been discovered that TYPO3 Core is vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting, Information Disclosure, Insecure Unserialize leading to Arbitrary Code Execution image: "https://news.typo3.com/_assets/d1e01514e4c4a5b3147940fa2ec50682/Images/og-image-news.jpg" date: 2026-06-11 modified: 2026-06-11 categories: - "Product Updates & Roadmap" - TYPO3 CMS --- # TYPO3-CORE-SA-2012-004: Several Vulnerabilities in TYPO3 Core - [Product Updates & Roadmap](https://news.typo3.com/article/category/product-updates-roadmap) - Security / [TYPO3 CMS](https://news.typo3.com/article/category/security/typo3-cms) TYPO3-CORE-SA-2012-004: Several Vulnerabilities in TYPO3 Core ============================================================= 15 August 2012 ![A laptop screen displaying a list of security advisories](https://news.typo3.com/typo3temp/assets/_processed_/d/c/csm_security_blog_default_77f8e86036.webp) It has been discovered that TYPO3 Core is vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting, Information Disclosure, Insecure Unserialize leading to Arbitrary Code Execution - ![](https://news.typo3.com/typo3temp/assets/t3g/blog/gravatar/7569d41262328e5ed8d27b53e03970ec.png)[Helmut Hummel](https://news.typo3.com/article/author/helmut-hummel) **Component Type:** TYPO3 Core **Affected Versions:** 4.5.0 up to 4.5.18, 4.6.0 up to 4.6.11, 4.7.0 up to 4.7.3 and development releases of the 6.0 branch. **Vulnerability Types:** Cross-Site Scripting, Information Disclosure, Insecure Unserialize **Overall Severity:** Medium **Release Date:** August 15, 2012 Vulnerable subcomponent: TYPO3 Backend Help System -------------------------------------------------- **Vulnerability Type:** Insecure Unserialize leading to a possible Arbitrary Code Execution **Severity:** Medium **Suggested CVSS v2.0:** [AV:N/AC:H/Au:S/C:P/I:C/A:N/E:P/RL:O/RC:C](http://jvnrss.ise.chuo-u.ac.jp/jtg/cvss/cvss2.cgi?vector=%28AV:N/AC:H/Au:S/C:P/I:C/A:N/E:P/RL:O/RC:C%29&g=3&lang=en "CVSS calculator") ([What's that?](http://buzz.typo3.org/teams/security/article/use-of-common-vulnerability-scoring-system-in-typo3-security-advisories/ "Blog post on CVSS usage")) **Problem Description:** Due to a missing signature (HMAC) for a parameter in the view\_help.php file, an attacker could unserialize arbitrary objects within TYPO3. We are aware of a working exploit, which can lead to arbitrary code execution. A valid backend user login or multiple successful cross site request forgery attacks are required to exploit this vulnerability. **Solution:** Update to the TYPO3 version 4.5.19, 4.6.12 or 4.7.4 that fix the problem described! **Credits:** Credits go to Felix Wilhelm who discovered and reported the issue. Vulnerable subcomponent: TYPO3 Backend -------------------------------------- **Vulnerability Type:** Cross-Site Scripting **Severity:** Medium **Suggested CVSS v2.0:** [AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:N/E:F/RL:O/RC:C](http://jvnrss.ise.chuo-u.ac.jp/jtg/cvss/cvss2.cgi?vector=%28AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:N/E:F/RL:O/RC:C%29&g=3&lang=en "CVSS calculator") ([What's that?](http://buzz.typo3.org/teams/security/article/use-of-common-vulnerability-scoring-system-in-typo3-security-advisories/ "Blog post on CVSS usage")) **Problem Description:** Failing to properly HTML-encode user input in several places, the TYPO3 backend is susceptible to Cross-Site Scripting. A valid backend user is required to exploit these vulnerabilities. **Solution:** Update to the TYPO3 version 4.5.19, 4.6.12 or 4.7.4 that fix the problem described! **Credits:** Credits go to Pavel Vaysband, Security Team Member Markus Bucher, Core Team Member Susanne Moog, Jan Bednarik,  who discovered and reported the issues. Vulnerable subcomponent: TYPO3 Backend -------------------------------------- **Vulnerability Type:** Information Disclosure **Severity:** Low **Suggested CVSS v2.0:** [AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N/E:F/RL:O/RC:C](http://jvnrss.ise.chuo-u.ac.jp/jtg/cvss/cvss2.cgi?vector=%28AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N/E:F/RL:O/RC:C%29&g=3&lang=en "CVSS calculator") ([What's that?](http://buzz.typo3.org/teams/security/article/use-of-common-vulnerability-scoring-system-in-typo3-security-advisories/ "Blog post on CVSS usage")) **Problem Description:** Accessing the configuration module discloses the Encryption Key. A valid backend user with access to the configuration module is required to exploit this vulnerability. **Solution:** Update to the TYPO3 version 4.5.19, 4.6.12 or 4.7.4 that fix the problem described! **Credits:** Credits go to Mario Rimann who discovered and reported the issue. Vulnerable subcomponent: TYPO3 HTML Sanitizing API -------------------------------------------------- **Vulnerability Type:** Cross-Site Scripting **Severity:** Medium **Suggested CVSS v2.0:** [AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N/E:U/RL:O/RC:C](http://jvnrss.ise.chuo-u.ac.jp/jtg/cvss/cvss2.cgi?vector=%28AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N/E:U/RL:O/RC:C%29&g=3&lang=en "CVSS calculator") ([What's that?](http://buzz.typo3.org/teams/security/article/use-of-common-vulnerability-scoring-system-in-typo3-security-advisories/ "Blog post on CVSS usage")) **Problem Description:** By not removing several HTML5 JavaScript events, the API method t3lib\_div::RemoveXSS() fails to filter specially crafted HTML injections, thus is susceptible to Cross-Site Scripting. Failing to properly encode for JavaScript the API method t3lib\_div::quoteJSvalue(), it is susceptible to Cross-Site Scripting. **Note:** Developers should never rely on the blacklist of RemoveXSS() alone, but should always properly encode user input before outputting it again. **Solution:** Update to the TYPO3 version 4.5.19, 4.6.12 or 4.7.4 that fix the problem described! **Credits:** Credits go to Andreas Schnapp and Christian Nösterer who discovered and reported the issues. Vulnerable subcomponent: TYPO3 Install Tool ------------------------------------------- **Vulnerability Type:** Cross-Site Scripting **Severity:** Low **Suggested CVSS v2.0:** [AV:N/AC:H/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:N/E:F/RL:O/RC:C](http://jvnrss.ise.chuo-u.ac.jp/jtg/cvss/cvss2.cgi?vector=%28AV:N/AC:H/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:N/E:F/RL:O/RC:C%29&g=3&lang=en "CVSS calculator") ([What's that?](http://buzz.typo3.org/teams/security/article/use-of-common-vulnerability-scoring-system-in-typo3-security-advisories/ "Blog post on CVSS usage")) **Problem Description:** Failing to properly sanitize user input, the Install Tool is susceptible to Cross-Site Scripting. **Solution:** Update to the TYPO3 version 4.5.19, 4.6.12 or 4.7.4 that fix the problem described! **Credits:** Credits go to Security Team Member Georg Ringer who discovered and reported the issue. **General Advice:** Follow the recommendations that are given in the [TYPO3 Security Guide](https://docs.typo3.org/m/typo3/reference-coreapi/main/en-us/Security/Index.html#security-guidelines "Opens external link in new window"). Please subscribe to the typo3-announce mailing list. ![](https://news.typo3.com/typo3temp/assets/t3g/blog/gravatar/bb9efc51bced8582e7b8c235f4b5f2b5.png) About the Author [Helmut Hummel](https://news.typo3.com/article/author/helmut-hummel) [More posts by this author](https://news.typo3.com/article/author/helmut-hummel)