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CVE-2023-38491

MEDIUM
Published 2023-07-27T15:30:49.404Z
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CVSS Score

V3.1
5.7
/10
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Base Score Metrics
Exploitability: N/A Impact: N/A

EPSS Score

v2025.03.14
0.001
probability
of exploitation in the wild

There is a 0.1% chance that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days.

Updated: 2025-06-25
Exploit Probability
Percentile: 0.363
Higher than 36.3% of all CVEs

Attack Vector Metrics

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
LOW
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
UNCHANGED

Impact Metrics

Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
NONE
Availability
NONE

Description

Kirby is a content management system. A vulnerability in versions prior to 3.5.8.3, 3.6.6.3, 3.7.5.2, 3.8.4.1, and 3.9.6 affects all Kirby sites that might have potential attackers in the group of authenticated Panel users or that allow external visitors to upload an arbitrary file to the content folder. Kirby sites are not affected if they don't allow file uploads for untrusted users or visitors or if the file extensions of uploaded files are limited to a fixed safe list. The attack requires user interaction by another user or visitor and cannot be automated.

An editor with write access to the Kirby Panel could upload a file with an unknown file extension like `.xyz` that contains HTML code including harmful content like `<script>` tags. The direct link to that file could be sent to other users or visitors of the site. If the victim opened that link in a browser where they are logged in to Kirby and the file had not been opened by anyone since the upload, Kirby would not be able to send the correct MIME content type, instead falling back to `text/html`. The browser would then run the script, which could for example trigger requests to Kirby's API with the permissions of the victim.

The issue was caused by the underlying `Kirby\Http\Response::file()` method, which didn't have an explicit fallback if the MIME type could not be determined from the file extension. If you use this method in site or plugin code, these uses may be affected by the same vulnerability.

The problem has been patched in Kirby 3.5.8.3, 3.6.6.3, 3.7.5.2, 3.8.4.1, and 3.9.6. In all of the mentioned releases, the maintainers have fixed the affected method to use a fallback MIME type of `text/plain` and set the `X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff` header if the MIME type of the file is unknown.

Available Exploits

No exploits available for this CVE.

Related News

No news articles found for this CVE.

Affected Products

GitHub Security Advisories

Community-driven vulnerability intelligence from GitHub

✓ GitHub Reviewed MODERATE

Cross-site scripting (XSS) from MIME type auto-detection of uploaded files

GHSA-8fv7-wq38-f5c9

Advisory Details

### TL;DR This vulnerability affects all Kirby sites that might have potential attackers in the group of authenticated Panel users or that allow external visitors to upload an arbitrary file to the content folder. Your Kirby sites are *not* affected if they don't allow file uploads for untrusted users or visitors or if the file extensions of uploaded files are limited to a fixed safe list. The attack requires user interaction by another user or visitor and *cannot* be automated. ---- ### Introduction Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of vulnerability that allows to execute any kind of JavaScript code inside the Panel session of the same or other users. In the Panel, a harmful script can for example trigger requests to Kirby's API with the permissions of the victim. Such vulnerabilities are critical if you might have potential attackers in your group of authenticated Panel users. They can escalate their privileges if they get access to the Panel session of an admin user. Depending on your site, other JavaScript-powered attacks are possible. ### Impact An editor with write access to the Kirby Panel could upload a file with an unknown file extension like `.xyz` that contains HTML code including harmful content like `<script>` tags. The direct link to that file could be sent to other users or visitors of the site. If the victim opened that link in a browser where they are logged in to Kirby and the file had not been opened by anyone since the upload, Kirby would serve the file with an incorrect MIME type of `text/html`. The browser would then run the script, which could for example trigger requests to Kirby's API with the permissions of the victim. The issue was caused by the underlying `Kirby\Http\Response::file()` method, which didn't have an explicit fallback if the MIME type could not be determined from the file extension. If you use this method in site or plugin code, these uses may be affected by the same vulnerability. ### Patches The problem has been patched in [Kirby 3.5.8.3](https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/3.5.8.3), [Kirby 3.6.6.3](https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/3.6.6.3), [Kirby 3.7.5.2](https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/3.7.5.2), [Kirby 3.8.4.1](https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/3.8.4.1) and [Kirby 3.9.6](https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/3.9.6). Please update to one of these or a [later version](https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases) to fix the vulnerability. In all of the mentioned releases, we have fixed the affected method to use a fallback MIME type of `text/plain` and set the `X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff` header if the MIME type of the file is unknown. ### Credits Thanks to Shankar Acharya (@5hank4r) for responsibly reporting the identified issue.

Affected Packages

Packagist getkirby/cms
ECOSYSTEM: ≥0 <3.5.8.3
Packagist getkirby/cms
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.6.0 <3.6.6.3
Packagist getkirby/cms
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.7.0 <3.7.5.2
Packagist getkirby/cms
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.8.0 <3.8.4.1
Packagist getkirby/cms
ECOSYSTEM: ≥3.9.0 <3.9.6

CVSS Scoring

CVSS Score

5.0

CVSS Vector

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

Advisory provided by GitHub Security Advisory Database. Published: July 28, 2023, Modified: July 28, 2023

References

Published: 2023-07-27T15:30:49.404Z
Last Modified: 2024-10-15T15:30:05.720Z
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