Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:NSummary
CVE-2020-13965 is a medium-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Roundcube Webmail. 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 0.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
The vulnerability is a cross-site scripting flaw (CWE-79, CWE-80) in Roundcube Webmail versions prior to 1.3.12 and 1.4.x prior to 1.4.5. It occurs because the application permits text/xml as one of the allowed MIME types for attachment preview, allowing a malicious XML file to execute script in the context of the user's session.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue by sending a crafted email containing a malicious XML attachment to a target user. When the recipient opens the message and triggers the preview function, the embedded script runs with the privileges of the Roundcube session, enabling actions such as cookie theft or UI manipulation within the changed security context reflected by the CVSS score of 6.1.
The referenced Roundcube commits and release tags for versions 1.3.12 and 1.4.5 contain the corrective changes that restrict XML preview handling to prevent script execution. Administrators should upgrade to one of these versions or later to eliminate the exposure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2020-6139
Vulnerability Data
An issue was discovered in Roundcube Webmail before 1.3.12 and 1.4.x before 1.4.5. There is XSS via a malicious XML attachment because text/xml is among the allowed types for a preview.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 26 June 2024
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.1.2V1.3.2V1.2.1V1.3.1
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.
Penetration testing submits XSS payloads to web applications, detecting cross-site scripting flaws for subsequent remediation.
Validates web inputs to reject script-related content that could produce XSS.
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.
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).
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.
Secure-coding testing and automated code-analysis tools are applied to detect improper neutralization of script-related content during web-page generation.
Knowledge exchange on emerging attack techniques and patches reduces the likelihood that cross-site scripting flaws remain unaddressed in deployed applications.
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.
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.
Application security requirements explicitly call for neutralization of script-related HTML tags.
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.