CVE-2023-51447: Decidim Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-9w99-78rj-hmxq
CVSS 6.3
CWE-79
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-51447 is a MODERATE (CVSS 6.3) cross-site scripting vulnerability (CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')) affecting Decidim libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves cross-site scripting (xss) in the dynamic file uploads. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.27.5.

CVE-2023-51447 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-51447
GHSA Identifier GHSA-9w99-78rj-hmxq
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 6.3
CWE Classification CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Affected Product Decidim
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 6.3

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity Low (I:L)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2023-51447

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Decidim dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

decidim fixed: 0.27.5
Upgrade decidim to 0.27.5
decidim-core fixed: 0.27.5
Upgrade decidim-core to 0.27.5
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

inspect dependencies for decidim

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2023-51447, inspect your project dependencies for Decidim:

inspect dependencies for decidim

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Decidim in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.27.5), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting'), where the product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users. In Decidim, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Impact The dynamic file upload feature is subject to potential XSS attach in case the attacker manages to modify the file names of the records being uploaded to the server. This appears in sections where the user controls the file upload dialogs themselves and has the technical knowledge to change the file names through the dynamic upload endpoint. Therefore I believe it would require the attacker to control the whole session of the particular user but in any case, this needs to be fixed. Successful exploit of this vulneratibility would require the user to have successfully uploaded a file blob to the server with a malicious file name and then have the possibility to direct the other user to the edit page of the record where the attachment is attached. The users are able to craft the direct upload requests themselves controlling the file name that gets stored to the database as shown here: https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/a967d355c6fee9ad9b8bd115d43bc8b0fc207e7e/activestorage/app/controllers/active_storage/direct_uploads_controller.rb#L14 The attacker is able to change the filename e.g. to `<svg onload=alert('XSS')>` if they know how to craft these requests themselves. And then enter the returned blob ID to the form inputs manually by modifying the edit page source. Therefore, anywhere we display these strings, we should properly escape them. ### Patches PR #11612 fixes this problem both for 0.28.dev and 0.27.x. ### Workarounds Disable dynamic uploads for the instance, e.g. from proposals. ### References OWASP ASVS v4.0.3-5.1.3 ### Credits This issue was discovered in City of Helsinki's security audit against Decidim 0.27 done during September 2023. The security audit was implemented by [Deloitte Finland](https://www2.deloitte.com/fi/fi.html).

CVE-2023-51447 Affected Decidim Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.27.5
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
decidim
RubyGems
≥ 0.27.0
< 0.27.5
0.27.5
decidim-core
RubyGems
≥ 0.27.0
< 0.27.5
0.27.5

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-51447?
CVE-2023-51447 is a security vulnerability in Decidim involving Cross-site scripting (XSS) in the dynamic file uploads under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting').
Which Decidim versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.27.5 across affected packages: decidim, decidim-core.
What version fixes CVE-2023-51447?
Upgrading to 0.27.5 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is decidim affected?
Yes, decidim is affected in releases prior to 0.27.5. Upgrade your dependency to 0.27.5 or later.
Is decidim-core affected?
Yes, decidim-core is affected in releases prior to 0.27.5. Upgrade your dependency to 0.27.5 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-51447?
CVE-2023-51447 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.3 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-51447?
CVE-2023-51447 is classified under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') (The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2023-51447?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for decidim'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-9w99-78rj-hmxq",
  "modified" : "2024-02-20T23:42:47Z",
  "published" : "2024-02-20T23:42:47Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-51447" ],
  "summary" : "Cross-site scripting (XSS) in the dynamic file uploads",
  "details" : "### Impact\nThe dynamic file upload feature is subject to potential XSS attach in case the attacker manages to modify the file names of the records being uploaded to the server.\n\nThis appears in sections where the user controls the file upload dialogs themselves and has the technical knowledge to change the file names through the dynamic upload endpoint. Therefore I believe it would require the attacker to control the whole session of the particular user but in any case, this needs to be fixed.\n\nSuccessful exploit of this vulneratibility would require the user to have successfully uploaded a file blob to the server with a malicious file name and then have the possibility to direct the other user to the edit page of the record where the attachment is attached.\n\nThe users are able to craft the direct upload requests themselves controlling the file name that gets stored to the database as shown here:\nhttps://github.com/rails/rails/blob/a967d355c6fee9ad9b8bd115d43bc8b0fc207e7e/activestorage/app/controllers/active_storage/direct_uploads_controller.rb#L14\n\nThe attacker is able to change the filename e.g. to `<svg onload=alert('XSS')>` if they know how to craft these requests themselves. And then enter the returned blob ID to the form inputs manually by modifying the edit page source.\n\nTherefore, anywhere we display these strings, we should properly escape them.\n\n### Patches\nPR #11612 fixes this problem both for 0.28.dev and 0.27.x.\n\n### Workarounds\nDisable dynamic uploads for the instance, e.g. from proposals.\n\n### References\nOWASP ASVS v4.0.3-5.1.3\n\n### Credits\nThis issue was discovered in City of Helsinki's security audit against Decidim 0.27 done during September 2023. The security audit was implemented by [Deloitte Finland](https://www2.deloitte.com/fi/fi.html).\n",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "decidim"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.27.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.27.5"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "decidim-core"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.27.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.27.5"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/decidim/decidim/security/advisories/GHSA-9w99-78rj-hmxq"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-51447"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/decidim/decidim/pull/11612"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/decidim/decidim/commit/aaf72787cf18beeeb6a771c1f7cbb7654b073423"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/decidim/decidim"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/decidim/decidim/releases/tag/v0.27.5"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/decidim/decidim/releases/tag/v0.28.0"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/a967d355c6fee9ad9b8bd115d43bc8b0fc207e7e/activestorage/app/controllers/active_storage/direct_uploads_controller.rb#L14"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-79" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2024-02-20T23:42:47Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2024-02-20T18:15:50Z"
  }
}