CVE-2018-11101

Open Whisper Signal (aka Signal-Desktop) through 1.10.1 allows XSS via a resource location specified in an attribute of a SCRIPT, IFRAME, or IMG element, leading to JavaScript execution after a reply, a different vulnerability than CVE-2018-10994. The attacker needs to send HTML code directly as a message, and then reply to that message to trigger this vulnerability. The Signal-Desktop software fails to sanitize specific HTML elements that can be used to inject HTML code into remote chat windows when replying to an HTML message. Specifically the IMG and IFRAME elements can be used to include remote or local resources. For example, the use of an IFRAME element enables full code execution, allowing an attacker to download/upload files, information, etc. The SCRIPT element was also found to be injectable. On the Windows operating system, the CSP fails to prevent remote inclusion of resources via the SMB protocol. In this case, remote execution of JavaScript can be achieved by referencing the script on an SMB share within an IFRAME element, for example: <IFRAME src=\\DESKTOP-XXXXX\Temp\test.html> and then replying to it. The included JavaScript code is then executed automatically, without any interaction needed from the user. The vulnerability can be triggered in the Signal-Desktop client by sending a specially crafted message and then replying to it with any text or content in the reply (it doesn't matter).

Published: 2018-05-17 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2018-11101 is rated Moderate Risk (49.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.46%). Core evidence: EPSS rose +1.03% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2018-11101

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.43% 1.46% +1.03%
2 2025-04-18 0.83% 0.43% -0.40%
3 2025-03-30 0.83%

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-11101

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.1 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.8 2.7 [email protected]
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-11101

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-11101

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
signal signal-desktop <= 1.10.1 cpe:2.3:a:signal:signal-desktop:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-11101

URL Tags
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2018/May/46 Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence