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CVE-2023-38490

Kirby XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in the XML data handler

Medium6.8EPSS 1.7%
Published
Updated
Reserved
Assigned by
GitHub_M

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 only affects Kirby sites that use the `Xml` data handler (e.g. `Data::decode($string, 'xml')`) or the `Xml::parse()` method in site or plugin code. The Kirby core does not use any of the affected methods. XML External Entities (XXE) is a little used feature in the XML markup language that allows to include data from external files in an XML structure. If the name of the external file can be controlled by an attacker, this becomes a vulnerability that can be abused for various system impacts like the disclosure of internal or confidential data that is stored on the server (arbitrary file disclosure) or to perform network requests on behalf of the server (server-side request forgery, SSRF). Kirby's `Xml::parse()` method used PHP's `LIBXML_NOENT` constant, which enabled the processing of XML external entities during the parsing operation. The `Xml::parse()` method is used in the `Xml` data handler (e.g. `Data::decode($string, 'xml')`). Both the vulnerable method and the data handler are not used in the Kirby core. However they may be used in site or plugin code, e.g. to parse RSS feeds or other XML files. If those files are of an external origin (e.g. uploaded by a user or retrieved from an external URL), attackers may be able to include an external entity in the XML file that will then be processed in the parsing process. Kirby sites that don't use XML parsing in site or plugin code are *not* affected. 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 removed the `LIBXML_NOENT` constant as processing of external entities is out of scope of the parsing logic. This protects all uses of the method against the described vulnerability.

Timeline

  1. ID reserved

    By GitHub_M

  2. · 9 days later

    Published

  3. · 15 months later

    Record updated

Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.

Scores

CVSS scores of CVE-2023-38490, by who scored it
Scored byCVSSScoreVector
GitHub_MCNA (assigner)3.1Medium6.8CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
NVDNVD · Modified3.1Critical10.0CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
1.7% · top 23% of all CVEs (7 Nov 2026)
CISA SSVC
Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
Loading the EPSS history…

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 6.8.

Weakness

Affected products

  • getkirby · kirby

    • affected < 3.5.8.3
    • affected >= 3.6.0, < 3.6.6.3
    • affected >= 3.7.0, < 3.7.5.2
    • affected >= 3.8.0, < 3.8.41
    • affected >= 3.9.0, < 3.9.6

Affected packages

From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.

References (7)

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

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Record last updated .