Cross-site scripting via XML preview
Published Jun 9, 2020 · Updated Oct 21, 2025
Cross-site scripting in Roundcube Webmail before 1.3.12 and 1.4.x before 1.4.5 allows remote authenticated users to execute script in a browser via a malicious XML attachment. The mail preview code treated text/xml as a browser-preview MIME type without a safe XML parser, allowing attacker-controlled markup to execute when a recipient opened the attachment. Exploitation requires a user to access the message and open the attachment; impact is script execution in the Roundcube origin, including data access or actions available to that session.
Summary
What happened
Cross-site scripting in Roundcube Webmail before 1.3.12 and 1.4.x before 1.4.5 allows remote authenticated users to execute script in a browser via a malicious XML attachment. The mail preview code treated text/xml as a browser-preview MIME type without a safe XML parser, allowing attacker-controlled markup to execute when a recipient opened the attachment. Exploitation requires a user to access the message and open the attachment; impact is script execution in the Roundcube origin, including data access or actions available to that session.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2020-13965
- Published
- Jun 9, 2020
- Updated
- Oct 21, 2025
- Vendor
- Roundcube
- Product
- Roundcube Webmail
- Classifications
- CWE-80, CWE-79, T1189
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 9, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jun 26, 2024Exploitation reportedCVE-2020-13965 in CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog
- Oct 21, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <1.3.12
- Affected versionversion=1.4.0 <1.4.5
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- CVE-2020-13965 Cross Site Scripting via Malicious XML Attachment Roundcubeproof of concept · unverified
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Reported exploitation
- CVE-2020-13965 in CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalogknown exploited catalog
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
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