Summary
In Django 1.10.x before 1.10.8 and 1.11.x before 1.11.5, HTML autoescaping was disabled in a portion of the template for the technical 500 debug page. Given the right circumstances, this allowed a cross-site scripting attack. This vulnerability shouldn't affect most production sites since you shouldn't run with DEBUG = True (which makes this page accessible) in your production settings.
Impact
Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session. Typical impact: session or credential theft, and actions taken as the user.
CVE-2017-12794 has a CVSS score of 6.1 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and user interaction required. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (1.10.8, 1.11.5); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
Remediation advice
Django to 1.10.8 or later; Django to 1.11.5 or later
Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2017-12794? CVE-2017-12794 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Django (pip), affecting versions >= 1.10a1, < 1.10.8. It is fixed in 1.10.8, 1.11.5. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
- How severe is CVE-2017-12794? CVE-2017-12794 has a CVSS score of 6.1 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of Django are affected by CVE-2017-12794? Django (pip) versions >= 1.10a1, < 1.10.8 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2017-12794? Yes. CVE-2017-12794 is fixed in 1.10.8, 1.11.5. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2017-12794 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2017-12794 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2017-12794 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2017-12794?
- Upgrade
Djangoto 1.10.8 or later - Upgrade
Djangoto 1.11.5 or later
- Upgrade