VYPR
Moderate severityNVD Advisory· Published Sep 9, 2019· Updated Aug 5, 2024

CVE-2019-16172

CVE-2019-16172

Description

LimeSurvey before 3.17.14 has stored XSS in survey group titles allowing privilege escalation to SuperAdmin.

AI Insight

LLM-synthesized narrative grounded in this CVE's description and references.

LimeSurvey before 3.17.14 has stored XSS in survey group titles allowing privilege escalation to SuperAdmin.

LimeSurvey before version 3.17.14 contains a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in survey group titles. When a survey group is deleted, the title content is not properly sanitized, allowing embedded JavaScript to execute [2][3].

An attacker with a low-privileged account can create a survey group with a malicious title containing JavaScript. Upon deletion of the group, the script executes in the context of a higher-privileged user, leading to privilege escalation [3].

The impact of successful exploitation is that an attacker can gain SuperAdmin privileges, effectively taking full control of the LimeSurvey instance [2][3].

LimeSurvey has addressed this issue in version 3.17.14. Users are strongly advised to upgrade to the patched version to mitigate the vulnerability [3].

AI Insight generated on May 22, 2026. Synthesized from this CVE's description and the cited reference URLs; citations are validated against the source bundle.

Affected packages

Versions sourced from the GitHub Security Advisory.

PackageAffected versionsPatched versions
limesurvey/limesurveyPackagist
< 3.17.143.17.14

Affected products

2

Patches

2
32d6a5224327

Fixed issue: [security] #15204: Stored XSS vulnerabilities - Thanks to J. Greil from the SEC Consult Vulnerability Lab (https://www.sec-consult.com)

https://github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurveyDenis ChenuSep 1, 2019via ghsa
1 file changed · +1 1
  • application/controllers/admin/SurveysGroupsController.php+1 1 modified
    @@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ public function delete($id)
     
                 // if AJAX request (triggered by deletion via admin grid view), we should not redirect the browser
                 if (!isset($_GET['ajax'])) {
    -                Yii::app()->setFlashMessage(sprintf(gT("The survey group '%s' was deleted."), $sGroupTitle), 'success');
    +                Yii::app()->setFlashMessage(sprintf(gT("The survey group '%s' was deleted."), CHtml::encode($sGroupTitle)), 'success');
                     $this->getController()->redirect(isset($_POST['returnUrl']) ? $_POST['returnUrl'] : array('admin/survey/sa/listsurveys '));
                 }
             }
    
8820d9619e8f

Release 3.17.4+190529

https://github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurveyLouisGacMay 29, 2019via osv
2 files changed · +88 2
  • application/config/version.php+2 2 modified
    @@ -12,9 +12,9 @@
      */
     
     
    -$config['versionnumber'] = '3.17.3';
    +$config['versionnumber'] = '3.17.4';
     $config['dbversionnumber'] = 359;
     $config['buildnumber'] = '';
     $config['updatable'] = true;
    -$config['assetsversionnumber'] = '30084';
    +$config['assetsversionnumber'] = '30085';
     return $config;
    
  • docs/release_notes.txt+86 0 modified
    @@ -35,6 +35,92 @@ Thank you to everyone who helped with this new release!
     CHANGE LOG
     ------------------------------------------------------
     
    +
    +Changes from 3.17.3 (build 190429) to 3.17.4  (build 190529) May 29, 2019
    +-Fixed issue [security]: survey manager can use SQL injection to access all data in the database (LouisGac)
    +-Fixed issue [security] #14836: XSS on icon for Boxes (Denis Chenu)
    +-Fixed issue: "Array text" questions were using subquestion code instead of subquestion text at print answers overview. Adjusted according to default array question layout. (Marcel Minke)
    +-Fixed issue #13516: Cannot access localized (i18n) values for a custom question attribute (Dominik Vitt)
    +-Fixed issue #13608: Permission to create participants in the central participants database (Patrick Teichmann)
    +-Fixed issue #13739: Relevance equation broken for array by column (Dominik Vitt)
    +-Fixed issue #13904: UTF-8 characters not correctly saved in survey texts when using MSSQL DB (Carsten Schmitz)
    +-Fixed issue #13936: Bootswatch inherit everyting to no: deactivate container (#1196) (Denis Chenu)
    +-Fixed issue #14038: Minor interface text changes (Carsten Schmitz)
    +-Fixed issue #14060: Deleting a participant and associated surveys and all associated responses from CPDB not working (Patrick Teichmann)
    +-Fixed issue #14148: Quota out is shown as completed in token list (Dominik Vitt)
    +-Fixed issue #14179: List questions panel - group-edit questions - Delete - text issue (Carsten Schmitz)
    +-Fixed issue #14187: In IE, for an Array question the radio buttons disappear when resizing the page to the point the answers start to stack. (Markus Flür)
    +-Fixed issue #14187: (Revisited) In IE, for an Array question the radio buttons disappear when resizing the page to the point the answers start to stack. (Markus Flür)
    +-Fixed issue #14201: Small text issue - reorder questions/groups panel (Carsten Schmitz)
    +-Fixed issue #14255: Current global theme options don't show in theme editor preview (Dominik Vitt)
    +-Fixed issue #14459 : show information about token field and duplicate (Denis Chenu)
    +-Fixed issue #14468: Viewing "Surveys in this group" displays all surveys regardless of Survey Group (Dominik Vitt)
    +-Fixed issue #14513: Permissions on shared participants (CPDB) (Patrick Teichmann)
    +-Fixed issue #14514: Purpose of permission "update" - CPDB (Patrick Teichmann)
    +-Fixed issue #14516: Delete from the central panel and associated surveys - CPDB (Patrick Teichmann)
    +-Fixed issue #14559: Theme editor loads parent theme.css file instead of current theme.css file (Dominik Vitt)
    +-Fixed issue #14598: Bad order shown in List question (#1237) (Denis Chenu)
    +-Fixed issue #14660: Unable to choose icon on Boxes (Olle Haerstedt)
    +-Fixed issue #14667: No timer message displayed for boilerplate question (Dominik Vitt)
    +-Fixed issue #14701: upload files - duplicate alert message (Denis Chenu)
    +-Fixed issue #14788: resume later + ajax mode : JS issue (Patrick Teichmann)
    +-Fixed issue #14809: Caret is over the text in group list (Dominik Vitt)
    +-Fixed issue #14815: exporting tab-separated removes mandatory property of questions (Dominik Vitt)
    +-Fixed issue #14844: Deprecated warning when running survey with PHP 7.3.4 (Dominik Vitt)
    +-Fixed issue #14855: Allowed invalid completed survey with full index (Denis Chenu)
    +-Fixed issue #14858: Upload status is not visible enough (#1272) (Denis Chenu)
    +-Fixed issue #14862: Export to LSS on Portuguese (Portugal) language (Denis Chenu)
    +-Fixed issue #14875: No error is shown at debug=0 if DB is broken (#1279) (Denis Chenu)
    +-Fixed issue #14895: Upgrading problem from version 2.* to 3.17.3 (Dominik Vitt)
    +-Fixed issue #14899: Incorrect behavior with Question of type R (Ranking) (Denis Chenu)
    +-Fixed issue #14900: numerical array with checkboxes lose all data (Dominik Vitt)
    +-Fixed issue #14934: Survey theme options are reset to default values (Dominik Vitt)
    +-Fixed issue #14938: Check data integrity : die with renaming a non existing table (Denis Chenu)
    +-Fixed issue #14939: Check data integrity with a lot of broken question : SQL error (MSSQL) (Denis Chenu)
    +-Fixed issue: Administrators now have access to the CPDB if they have shared participants or have global Permissions 'read, create, update, delete', "global Permissions" > "shared Permissions" (Patrick Teichmann)
    +-Fixed issue: multiple select not acknowledged by pjax form (Markus Flür)
    +-Fixed issue : Only one survey is find for SurveyLanguageSetting in checkintegrity (Denis Chenu)
    +-Fixed issue: Properly show "Array text" questions at print answers screen (Marcel Minke)
    +-Fixed issue: Question selector not working on IE11 (Markus Flür)
    +-Fixed issue: regression, list radio rows have no iterator (Markus Flür)
    +-Fixed issue: Some minor translation issues (Carsten Schmitz)
    +#Updated translation: Arabic by waseemz
    +#Updated translation: Catalan by qualitatuvic
    +#Updated translation: Chinese (Simplified) by johnxan
    +#Updated translation: Chinese (Taiwan) (Traditional) by hms5232
    +#Updated translation: Croatian by dominikvitt
    +#Updated translation: Czech by c_schmitz, slansky, VBraun, jelen1
    +#Updated translation: Czech by jelen1, nekola
    +#Updated translation: Czech by nekola, jelen1
    +#Updated translation: Czech (Informal) by jelen1
    +#Updated translation: Czech (Informal) by slansky, c_schmitz, jelen1, VBraun, dusanm
    +#Updated translation: Danish by Mikkel
    +#Updated translation: Dutch by Han
    +#Updated translation: Dutch (Informal) by Han
    +#Updated translation: French (France) by DenisChenu
    +#Updated translation: French (France) by DenisChenu, arnaud21, b00z00, riqcles
    +#Updated translation: French (France) by DenisChenu, b00z00
    +#Updated translation: German by bewi
    +#Updated translation: German by c_schmitz, bewi
    +#Updated translation: German (Informal) by bewi, c_schmitz
    +#Updated translation: German (Informal) by c_schmitz
    +#Updated translation: Hungarian by kkd
    +#Updated translation: Italian by lfanfoni
    +#Updated translation: Italian by lfanfoni, Prosperocco
    +#Updated translation: Italian (Informal) by lfanfoni
    +#Updated translation: Norwegian (Bokmål) by pmonstad
    +#Updated translation: Polish by elissa
    +#Updated translation: Polish (Informal) by elissa
    +#Updated translation: Portuguese (Portugal) by castrosergioms, joseluisfaria
    +#Updated translation: Romanian by cdorin
    +#Updated translation: Russian by T34, vipgroup
    +#Updated translation: Russian by vipgroup
    +#Updated translation: Spanish (Mexican) by c_schmitz, k001, emphasis034, javoguadas, larjona, aesteban, fernandoessv, cripton, Dhel210, rodrirokr, gabrieljenik, oleggorfinkel
    +#Updated translation: Spanish (Mexican) by oleggorfinkel
    +#Updated translation: Tajik by c_schmitz, Iskandar_r
    +#Updated translation: Turkish by kayazeren
    +#Updated translation: Vietnamese by dnvservices
    +
     Changes from 3.17.2 (build 190408) to 3.17.3 (build 190429 ) April 29, 2019
     -Fixed issue #13793: Error on RPC: add_response method with "Anonymized responses" Survey (Olle Haerstedt)
     -Fixed issue #13950: SQL Error when saving a response or getting a session token via API (Denis Chenu)
    

Vulnerability mechanics

Generated on May 9, 2026. Inputs: CWE entries + fix-commit diffs from this CVE's patches. Citations validated against bundle.

References

7

News mentions

0

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