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CVE-2009-3731· NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in WebWorks Help 2.0 through 5.0 in VMware vCenter 4.0 before Update 1 Build 208156; VMw

Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in WebWorks Help 2.0 through 5.0 in VMware vCenter 4.0 before Update 1 Build 208156; VMware Server 2.0.2; VMware ESX 4.0; VMware Lab Manager 2.x; VMware vCenter Lab Manager 3.x and 4.x before 4.0.1; VMware Stage Manager 1.x before 4.0.1; WebWorks Publisher 6.x through 8.x; WebWorks Publisher 2003; and WebWorks ePublisher 9.0.x through 9.3, 2008.1 through 2008.4, and 2009.x before 2009.3 allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via (1) wwhelp_entry.html, reachable through index.html and wwhsec.htm, (2) wwhelp/wwhimpl/api.htm, (3) wwhelp/wwhimpl/common/html/frameset.htm, (4) wwhelp/wwhimpl/common/scripts/switch.js, or (5) the window.opener component in wwhelp/wwhimpl/common/html/bookmark.htm, related to (a) unspecified parameters and (b) messages used in topic links for the bookmarking functionality.

MediumCVSS 4.3 · v2.0—No exploit No fix recorded
Published
Dec 16, 2009
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
2.8% · 86th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

18

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
17 / 40 · 4.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
1 / 30 · 2.8%

Affected systems

VendorProduct
webworksepublisher
webworkshelp
webworkspublisher
vmwareesx server
vmwarevcenter
microsoftwindows
vmwarelab manager
vmwareserver
vmwarestage manager
vmwarevcenter lab manager
vmwarevcenter stage manager

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • vmware esx server4.0
  • vmware lab manager2.0
  • vmware server2.0.2
  • vmware stage managerup to 4.0 inclusive
  • vmware stage manager1.0
  • vmware vcenter4.0
  • vmware vcenter lab manager3.0
  • vmware vcenter lab manager3.0.1
  • vmware vcenter lab manager3.0.2
  • vmware vcenter lab manager4.0
  • vmware vcenter stage manager1.0.1
  • webworks epublisher2008.1
  • webworks epublisher2008.2
  • webworks epublisher2008.3
  • webworks epublisher2008.4
  • webworks epublisher2009.1
  • webworks epublisher2009.2
  • webworks epublisher9.0
  • webworks epublisher9.1
  • webworks epublisher9.2

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

    If successful

    Confidentiality
    none
    Integrity
    P · data or configuration can be modified
    Availability
    none
    Attack complexity
    M
    Confidentiality impact
    None
    Integrity impact
    P
    Availability impact
    None

    Weakness class (CWE)

    CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

    CVSS vector

    AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N

    nvd-primary

    Root cause

    User content is inserted into the page as HTML. The browser interprets the content as code rather than data.

    The bug in code

    The whole CWE-79 class

    A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

    Vulnerable

    ts
    commentEl.innerHTML = comment.body;

    Fixed

    ts
    commentEl.textContent = comment.body;

    Attack context

    MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

    ATT&CK techniques

    —

    Noroxi analysis

    No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

    We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

    We use this product, ask for help

    Change log

    No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

    References

    Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

    All records