Summary
Two Cross-Site Scripting vulnerabilities have been discovered in Alkacon's OpenCMS affecting version 16, which could allow a user:
with sufficient privileges to create and modify web pages through the admin panel, can execute malicious JavaScript code, after inserting code in the title field. Another could having the roles of gallery editor or VFS resource manager will have the permission to upload images in the .svg format containing JavaScript code. The code will be executed the moment another user accesses the image.
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-2024-5520 has a CVSS score of 6.4 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. 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 (17.0); 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
Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2024-5520? CVE-2024-5520 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in org.opencms:opencms-core (maven), affecting versions = 16.0. It is fixed in 17.0. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
- How severe is CVE-2024-5520? CVE-2024-5520 has a CVSS score of 6.4 (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 org.opencms:opencms-core are affected by CVE-2024-5520? org.opencms:opencms-core (maven) versions = 16.0 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2024-5520? Yes. CVE-2024-5520 is fixed in 17.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2024-5520 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2024-5520 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-2024-5520 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-2024-5520? Upgrade
org.opencms:opencms-coreto 17.0 or later.