Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-26119 is a critical-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Htmlunit Htmlunit. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked in the top 16% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
The vulnerability CVE-2023-26119 is a remote code execution flaw via XSLT processing that affects the HtmlUnit package net.sourceforge.htmlunit:htmlunit in all versions up to and including those before 3.0.0. The issue stems from insufficient restrictions on XSLT transformations, which fall under CWE-94 code injection weaknesses and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8.
An unauthenticated attacker can exploit the flaw simply by hosting a malicious webpage that triggers the vulnerable HtmlUnit component when a target application or user agent browses it, resulting in arbitrary code execution on the affected system with no user interaction or privileges required.
Advisories and patches direct users to upgrade to HtmlUnit 3.0.0 or later; the referenced commit 641325bbc84702dc9800ec7037aec061ce21956b implements the fix by addressing the unsafe XSLT handling path, and Snyk entries for the vulnerability recommend the same version upgrade as the primary mitigation.
EPSS for the CVE reached a peak of 0.0736 on 2025-01-22 before receding to the current value of 0.0403.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-1944
Vulnerability Data
Versions of the package net.sourceforge.htmlunit:htmlunit from 0 and before 3.0.0 are vulnerable to Remote Code Execution (RCE) via XSTL, when browsing the attacker’s webpage.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.3.1
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Makes persistent code injection into loaded programs impossible when the executable image itself resides on hardware-protected read-only media.
Dynamically generated code can be produced and executed inside the isolated chamber, preventing host compromise from code-injection payloads.
Validates inputs used in dynamic code generation to block injected directives.
Directly prevents execution of attacker-supplied code written into data memory regions.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly target injection flaws via secure coding and testing (mostly), yet as a single broad outcome it leaves many code-generation specifics unaddressed (partial).
PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.