How severe is CVE-2019-16172?

CVE-2019-16172 has a CVSS score of 5.4/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2019-16172?

CVE-2019-16172 affects the following packages: limesurvey/limesurvey (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix CVE-2019-16172?

Update limesurvey/limesurvey to 3.17.14 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2019-16172 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2019-16172 in my Packagist dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for limesurvey/limesurvey, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2019-16172 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Is CVE-2019-16172 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 6 known exploit references for CVE-2019-16172, including 1 documented proof-of-concept exploit on Exploit-DB and 4 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2019-16172?

CVE-2019-16172 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 4.6%, placing it in the 92th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2019-16172?

CVE-2019-16172 is classified as Cross-site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2019-16172 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2019-16172 was published on September 9, 2019 and was last updated on October 20, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐘

🐘 Packagist

Not in CISA KEV

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2019-16172 — limesurvey

MEDIUMFix: LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey@32d6a52

CVE-2019-16172 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.4) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in limesurvey/limesurvey. 6 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for limesurvey/limesurvey — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Cross-site Scripting in LimeSurvey

Also known asGHSA-fr47-r224-c36m

Published

Sep 9, 2019

Updated

Oct 20, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

6 known

Exploitation data as of Nov 6, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

4.6%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs92th percentile — riskier than 92% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐘limesurvey/limesurvey

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

LimeSurvey before v3.17.14 allows stored XSS for escalating privileges from a low-privileged account to, for example, SuperAdmin. The attack uses a survey group in which the title contains JavaScript that is mishandled upon group deletion.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`limesurvey/limesurvey`	all versions	3.17.14`composer require limesurvey/limesurvey:^3.17.14`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

limesurveylimesurvey

< 3.17.4

range

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

EDB-47386webappsphp✓ Verified

LimeSurvey 3.17.13 - Cross-Site Scripting

by SEC Consult · Sep 13, 2019

Exploit-DB Source

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for limesurvey/limesurvey, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update limesurvey/limesurvey to 3.17.14 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2019-16172 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2019-16172 in your dependencies?

Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

5.4/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

Low

Availability

None

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

CWE Classification

CWE-79Cross-site Scripting (XSS)

Weaponization

No Nuclei template or Metasploit module yet. 6 public proof-of-concept references are listed on this page.

OpenSSF Scorecard

Package health score

LimeSurvey

4.8/10

Maintained10/10

Code-Review3/10

Branch-Protection3/10

Assessed Nov 2, 2026

Timeline

Disclosed

Sep 9, 2019

First exploit

Sep 13, 2019

3 days after disclosure — rapid exploitation

Last updated

Oct 20, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2019-16172

GHSA-fr47-r224-c36m

References

Advisorynvd.nist.gov · CVE 2019 16172 Fixgithub.com · 32d6a5224327b246ee3a2a08500544e4f80f9a9a Weblimesurvey.org · 2188 limesurvey 3 17 14 build 190902 released Evidencepacketstormsecurity.com · LimeSurvey 3.17.13 Cross Site Scripting Evidenceseclists.org Evidenceseclists.org

Related vulnerabilities

Also affects limesurvey/limesurvey

This CVE is medium severity; 7 of 7 other CVEs affecting limesurvey/limesurvey are rated as high or higher (top: high).

CVE-2026-50635CVE-2026-50636CVE-2025-56421CVE-2024-28710CVE-2024-28709CVE-2019-16173CVE-2021-42112

Same weakness: CWE-79

This CVE is medium severity, in line with the other 1 CVE with CWE-79.

CVE-2026-88986Browse all CWE-79

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedOct 20, 2026