Cyber Resilience

CVE-2018-19953

XSS in Qnap Qts ≤ 4.2.6

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedRansomware-linkedXSS
Published
28 October 2020
Modified
13 August 2026
KEV Added
24 May 2022
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.24 98th percentile
Risk Priority 75 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2018-19953 is a medium-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Qnap Qts. Its CVSS base score is 6.1 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Browser Session Hijacking (T1185); ranked in the top 2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

This cross-site scripting vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2018-19953 and assigned CWE-79 and CWE-80, affects multiple versions of QNAP QTS network-attached storage firmware. Successful exploitation enables remote attackers to inject malicious code into affected systems, as reflected in its CVSS 3.1 score of 6.1 with network attack vector, low complexity, no required privileges, and required user interaction.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the flaw by crafting a malicious link or input that a user interacts with, resulting in injected script execution that impacts confidentiality and integrity within a changed scope while leaving availability unaffected.

QNAP addressed the issue through updated builds including QTS 4.4.2.1231 (20200302), 4.4.1.1201 (20200130), 4.3.6.1218 (20200214), 4.3.4.1190 (20200107), 4.3.3.1161 (20200109), and 4.2.6 (20200109), as detailed in security advisory QSA-20-01. The vulnerability appears in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, indicating confirmed real-world exploitation activity.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

If exploited, this cross-site scripting vulnerability could allow remote attackers to inject malicious code. QNAP has already fixed the issue in the following QTS versions. QTS 4.4.2.1231 on build 20200302; QTS 4.4.1.1201 on build 20200130; QTS 4.3.6.1218 on build 20200214;…

more

QTS 4.3.4.1190 on build 20200107; QTS 4.3.3.1161 on build 20200109; QTS 4.2.6 on build 20200109.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
24 May 2022

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1185 Browser Session Hijacking Collection
Adversaries may take advantage of security vulnerabilities and inherent functionality in browser software to change content, modify user-behaviors, and intercept information as part of various browser session hijacking techniques.
T1539 Steal Web Session Cookie Credential Access
An adversary may steal web application or service session cookies and use them to gain access to web applications or Internet services as an authenticated user without needing credentials.
T1659 Content Injection Initial Access
Adversaries may gain access and continuously communicate with victims by injecting malicious content into systems through online network traffic.
T1189 Drive-by Compromise Initial Access
Adversaries may gain access to a system through a user visiting a website over the normal course of browsing.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2018-19943Same product: Qnap Qtsboth on KEV
CVE-2023-23372Same product: Qnap Qts
CVE-2023-34977Same product class: NAS / storage appliance
CVE-2020-11023Same product class: NAS / storage applianceboth on KEV
CVE-2022-31097Same product class: NAS / storage appliance
CVE-2020-13965Shared CWE-79, CWE-80both on KEV
CVE-2018-6882Shared CWE-79both on KEV
CVE-2023-5631Shared CWE-79both on KEV
CVE-2012-0767Shared CWE-79both on KEV
CVE-2022-27926Shared CWE-79both on KEV

Affected Assets

qnap
qts
4.2.6 · ≤ 4.2.6 · 4.3.1.0013 — 4.3.3.1161 · 4.3.4 — 4.3.4.1190

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.1.2
  • V1.3.2
  • V1.2.1
  • V1.3.1

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-79

Penetration testing submits XSS payloads to web applications, detecting cross-site scripting flaws for subsequent remediation.

addresses: CWE-79

Validates web inputs to reject script-related content that could produce XSS.

addresses: CWE-79

Output validation against expected content can reject or sanitize script content in generated web pages, reducing XSS exploitability.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly target introduction of XSS via coding standards/testing (mostly), yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors unaddressed (partial).

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching and EOL replacement can remediate known XSS instances in libraries or frameworks (partial) but do nothing to enforce input neutralization in application code (none).

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Secure-coding testing and automated code-analysis tools are applied to detect improper neutralization of script-related content during web-page generation.

prevents

Knowledge exchange on emerging attack techniques and patches reduces the likelihood that cross-site scripting flaws remain unaddressed in deployed applications.

prevents

Operational indicators of compromise for web-application attacks can be incorporated into WAF or input-filtering rules, lowering the likelihood that unsanitized data reaches the browser.

prevents

Requiring language-specific secure-coding standards and automated scanning during the SDLC catches missing output encoding or improper neutralization of untrusted data before the software reaches production.

prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for neutralization of script-related HTML tags.

prevents

Secure-coding standards, SAST scans and removal of insecure code samples together eliminate the failure to neutralize script content that produces cross-site scripting flaws.

References