CVE-2017-5344: dotCMS

Critical severity, CVSS 9.8. EPSS: 6.3% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

An issue was discovered in dotCMS through 3.6.1. The findChildrenByFilter() function which is called by the web accessible path /categoriesServlet performs string interpolation and direct SQL query execution. SQL quote escaping and a keyword blacklist were implemented in a new class, SQLUtil (main/java/com/dotmarketing/common/util/SQLUtil.java), as part of the remediation of CVE-2016-8902; however, these can be overcome in the case of the q and inode parameters to the /categoriesServlet path. Overcoming these controls permits a number of blind boolean SQL injection vectors in either parameter. The /categoriesServlet web path can be accessed remotely and without authentication in a default dotCMS deployment.

Affected products

• dotCMS dotCMS: up to and including 3.6.1

Published 2017-02-17. Last modified 2026-06-17.