Security Resilience

CVE-2023-38188

XSS in Microsoft Azure Hdinsight

Published
08 August 2023
Modified
10 August 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.010 62th percentile
Risk Priority 44 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-38188 is a medium-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Microsoft Azure Hdinsight. Its CVSS base score is 4.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Protocol or Service Impersonation (T1001.003); ranked in the top 38% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2023-38188 is a spoofing vulnerability affecting Azure Apache Hadoop, assigned CWE-79 and carrying a CVSS 4.5 rating that reflects network attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, and user interaction needed to produce high integrity impact without affecting confidentiality or availability.

An authenticated attacker with high privileges who can also induce user interaction may exploit the flaw to perform spoofing actions that alter data integrity within the Hadoop environment.

The referenced Microsoft Security Response Center advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2023-38188 provides official guidance on available patches and mitigation steps for the affected Azure service.

EPSS for the CVE rose materially from a low baseline to a peak of 0.0741 on 2025-01-22 before receding to the current value of 0.0028, indicating a period of increased exploitation interest after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Azure Apache Hadoop Spoofing Vulnerability

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
T1011 Exfiltration Over Other Network Medium Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over a different network medium than the command and control channel.
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-23408Same product: Microsoft Azure Hdinsight
CVE-2023-36877Same product: Microsoft Azure Hdinsight
CVE-2023-35394Same product: Microsoft Azure Hdinsight
CVE-2023-35393Same product: Microsoft Azure Hdinsight
CVE-2023-36881Same product: Microsoft Azure Hdinsight
CVE-2023-21570Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2023-36892Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2023-32024Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2023-36030Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2023-36020Same vendor: Microsoft

Affected Assets

microsoft
azure hdinsight
all versions

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.1.2
  • V1.3.2

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.

addresses: CWE-79

Penetration testing submits XSS payloads to web applications, detecting cross-site scripting flaws for subsequent remediation.

addresses: CWE-79

Validates web inputs to reject script-related content that could produce XSS.

addresses: CWE-79

Output validation against expected content can reject or sanitize script content in generated web pages, reducing XSS exploitability.

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 mostly match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly target introduction of XSS via coding standards/testing (mostly), yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors unaddressed (partial).

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Patching and EOL replacement can remediate known XSS instances in libraries or frameworks (partial) but do nothing to enforce input neutralization in application code (none).

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.

removes
removes
removes
removes
blocks

A.5.6 only promotes membership in groups to improve knowledge, receive alerts, and share information; it performs no action that stops XSS exploitation (or even the underlying neutralization defect) and is a pure dependency for other controls per the owner's labeling rule.

References