CVE-2023-38488: Getkirby/cms Field Injection Vulnerability
HIGHCVE-2023-38488 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.1) field injection vulnerability (CWE-140: Improper Neutralization of Delimiters) affecting Getkirby/cms libraries in the Packagist ecosystem. The issue involves field injection in the kirbydata text storage handler. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3.5.8.3, 3.6.6.3, 3.7.5.2, 3.8.4.1, 3.9.6.
CVE-2023-38488 at a Glance
Security Impact
CVSS: 7.1
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:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L).
How to Fix CVE-2023-38488
To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Getkirby/cms dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.
Upgrade getkirby/cms to 3.5.8.3
Upgrade getkirby/cms to 3.6.6.3
Upgrade getkirby/cms to 3.7.5.2
Upgrade getkirby/cms to 3.8.4.1
Upgrade getkirby/cms to 3.9.6
Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:
inspect dependencies for getkirby/cms
How to Check if You Are Affected
To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2023-38488, inspect your project dependencies for Getkirby/cms:
inspect dependencies for getkirby/cms
Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Getkirby/cms in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 3.5.8.3), 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-140: Improper Neutralization of Delimiters, where the product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes delimiters. In Getkirby/cms, 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
CVE-2023-38488 Affected Getkirby/cms Versions
5 component(s)| Product / Package | Ecosystem | Affected Versions | Fixed Version |
|---|---|---|---|
|
getkirby/cms
|
Packagist |
< 3.5.8.3
|
3.5.8.3
|
|
getkirby/cms
|
Packagist |
≥ 3.6.0
< 3.6.6.3
|
3.6.6.3
|
|
getkirby/cms
|
Packagist |
≥ 3.7.0
< 3.7.5.2
|
3.7.5.2
|
|
getkirby/cms
|
Packagist |
≥ 3.8.0
< 3.8.4.1
|
3.8.4.1
|
|
getkirby/cms
|
Packagist |
≥ 3.9.0
< 3.9.6
|
3.9.6
|
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2023-38488?
Which Getkirby/cms versions are affected?
What version fixes CVE-2023-38488?
Is getkirby/cms affected?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-38488?
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-38488?
How can I check Packagist dependencies for CVE-2023-38488?
Machine-readable OSV JSON
OSV v1.5 Schema
{
"schema_version" : "1.4.0",
"id" : "GHSA-x5mr-p6v4-wp93",
"modified" : "2023-07-28T15:35:47Z",
"published" : "2023-07-28T15:35:47Z",
"aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-38488" ],
"summary" : "Field injection in the KirbyData text storage handler",
"details" : "### TL;DR\n\nThis vulnerability affects all Kirby sites that might have potential attackers in the group of authenticated Panel users or that allow external visitors to update a Kirby content file (e.g. via a contact or comment form).\n\nYour Kirby sites are *not* affected if they don't allow write access for untrusted users or visitors.\n\n----\n\n### Introduction\n\nA field injection in a content storage implementation is a type of vulnerability that allows attackers with content write access to overwrite content fields that the site developer didn't intend to be modified.\n\nIn a Kirby site this can be used to alter site content, break site behavior or inject malicious data or code. The exact security risk depends on the field type and usage.\n\n### Impact\n\nKirby stores content of the site, of pages, files and users in text files by default. The text files use Kirby's KirbyData format where each field is separated by newlines and a line with four dashes (`----`).\n\nWhen reading a KirbyData file, the affected code first removed the Unicode BOM sequence from the file contents and afterwards split the content into fields by the field separator.\n\nWhen writing to a KirbyData file, field separators in field data are escaped to prevent user input from interfering with the field structure. However this escaping could be tricked by including a Unicode BOM sequence in a field separator (e.g. `--\\xEF\\xBB\\xBF--`). When writing, this was not detected as a separator, but during the read process the BOM was removed, turning the malicious line into a valid separator. This could be abused by attackers to inject other field data into content files.\n\nBecause each field can only be defined once per content file, this vulnerability only affects fields in the content file that were defined above the vulnerable user-writable field or not at all. Fields that are defined below the vulnerable field override the injected field content and were therefore already protected.\n\n### Patches\n\nThe 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.\n\nIn all of the mentioned releases, we have fixed the affected code to only remove the Unicode BOM sequence at the beginning of the file. This fixes this vulnerability both for newly written as well as for existing content files.\n\n### Credits\n\nThanks to Patrick Falb (@dapatrese) at [FORMER 03](https://former03.de/) for responsibly reporting the identified issue.",
"severity" : [ {
"type" : "CVSS_V3",
"score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L"
} ],
"affected" : [ {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "Packagist",
"name" : "getkirby/cms"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "0"
}, {
"fixed" : "3.5.8.3"
} ]
} ]
}, {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "Packagist",
"name" : "getkirby/cms"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "3.6.0"
}, {
"fixed" : "3.6.6.3"
} ]
} ]
}, {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "Packagist",
"name" : "getkirby/cms"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "3.7.0"
}, {
"fixed" : "3.7.5.2"
} ]
} ]
}, {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "Packagist",
"name" : "getkirby/cms"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "3.8.0"
}, {
"fixed" : "3.8.4.1"
} ]
} ]
}, {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "Packagist",
"name" : "getkirby/cms"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "3.9.0"
}, {
"fixed" : "3.9.6"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"references" : [ {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/security/advisories/GHSA-x5mr-p6v4-wp93"
}, {
"type" : "ADVISORY",
"url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-38488"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/commit/a1e0f81c799ddae1af91cf37216f8ded9cb93540"
}, {
"type" : "PACKAGE",
"url" : "https://github.com/getkirby/kirby"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/3.5.8.3"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/3.6.6.3"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/3.7.5.2"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/3.8.4.1"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/getkirby/kirby/releases/tag/3.9.6"
} ],
"database_specific" : {
"cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-140", "CWE-863" ],
"severity" : "HIGH",
"github_reviewed" : true,
"github_reviewed_at" : "2023-07-28T15:35:47Z",
"nvd_published_at" : "2023-07-27T15:15:11Z"
}
}