CVE-2011-4462: Plone - Denial of Service Vulnerability
Summary
CVE-2011-4462: Plone Denial of Service vulnerability. Affects plone versions < 4.1.4. Fixed in 4.1.4. How to fix ↓
Check if this vulnerability affects your application
Upload a manifest or SBOM and we'll show whether you're affected, plus every other risky package in the same scan.
No signup required · Results in about 60 seconds
Background
Plone is an open-source content management system (CMS) built on top of the Zope application server. It provides an intuitive interface for managing and publishing content on the web. Plone is widely used for creating websites, intranets, and collaborative workspaces. However, versions 4.1.3 and earlier of Plone are vulnerable to a moderate severity denial of service (DoS) attack.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in Plone arises from the way it computes hash values for form parameters. It does not properly restrict the ability to trigger hash collisions predictably. This allows remote attackers to exploit the vulnerability by sending a large number of crafted parameters, leading to excessive CPU consumption and causing a denial of service. The impact of this vulnerability can be significant, as it can disrupt the availability of the affected Plone instance and potentially impact other services running on the same system.
How To Fix
Latest published version: 6.2.2 as of 23 Oct 2026
pip install --upgrade "plone==6.2.2"Upgrading to it may include breaking changes; the version below is the minimum fixed release for this vulnerability.
If you need the minimum change
4.1.4
This is the first release that contains the fix.
pip install --upgrade "plone==4.1.4"Tip — Not sure which version your app runs? Vulert can match this fix to it. Scan free →
Workaround
There is no known workaround for this vulnerability. It is strongly advised to apply the recommended fix by upgrading to a patched version of Plone.
Conclusion
The vulnerability in Plone versions 4.1.3 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service by triggering predictable hash collisions. To mitigate this vulnerability, it is crucial to upgrade Plone to version 4.1.4 or later. Upgrading ensures that the necessary fixes are applied to prevent the exploitation of this vulnerability. For further assistance or support in vulnerability remediation, please contact DevNack.com.
See every vulnerability recorded for plone →
FAQ
The vulnerability allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (DoS) by consuming excessive CPU resources. This can lead to the unavailability of the affected Plone instance and potentially impact other services running on the same system.
Plone versions 4.1.3 and earlier are affected by this vulnerability.
No, there is no known workaround for this vulnerability. It is recommended to upgrade to a patched version of Plone.
To fix this vulnerability, upgrade Plone to version 4.1.4 or later. The upgrade includes the necessary fixes to prevent the exploitation of this vulnerability.
For more information about this vulnerability, refer to the Plone security advisory GHSA-pcwm-8jc3-qxvj.
Related vulnerabilities
Recent vulnerabilities recorded for plone.
