Security Resilience

CVE-2023-4173

XSS in Moosocial Moostore 3.1.6

Public PoCXSS
Published
06 August 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
CVSS Score v3.1 3.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.054 93th percentile
Risk Priority 45 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-2023-4173 is a low-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Moosocial Moostore. Its CVSS base score is 3.5 (Low).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Protocol or Service Impersonation (T1001.003); ranked in the top 7% 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.

A vulnerability classified as problematic was discovered in mooSocial mooStore version 3.1.6. It affects an unspecified function in the /search/index file, where manipulation of the q parameter enables cross-site scripting. The issue is tracked as CWE-79 with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 3.5, reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, required privileges, and required user interaction.

An authenticated remote attacker can supply a crafted q value to the search endpoint and trigger script execution in a victim's browser session. Successful exploitation yields limited integrity impact, such as unauthorized modification of page content, without affecting confidentiality or availability.

The EPSS score started low after the August 2023 disclosure, rose materially to a peak of 0.1056 in December 2025, and has since receded to 0.0815, indicating increased exploitation interest well after public release. Public references consist of a Packet Storm proof-of-concept and Vuldb entries that document the flaw but do not detail vendor patches or mitigation steps.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in mooSocial mooStore 3.1.6. Affected is an unknown function of the file /search/index. The manipulation of the argument q leads to cross site scripting. It is possible to launch the attack…

more

remotely. The identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-236208.

CWE(s)
CWE-79

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.
attack.mitre.org →
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.
attack.mitre.org →
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.
attack.mitre.org →
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
attack.mitre.org →
T1011 Exfiltration Over Other Network Medium Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over a different network medium than the command and control channel.
attack.mitre.org →
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-4174Same product: Moosocial Moostore
CVE-2023-3847Same vendor: Moosocial
CVE-2023-43326Same vendor: Moosocial
CVE-2023-45542Same vendor: Moosocial
CVE-2023-40869Same vendor: Moosocial
CVE-2023-3845Same vendor: Moosocial
CVE-2023-3846Same vendor: Moosocial
CVE-2023-3849Same vendor: Moosocial
CVE-2023-3844Same vendor: Moosocial
CVE-2023-3848Same vendor: Moosocial

Affected Assets

moosocial
moostore
3.1.6

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.

CA-8 Penetration Testing
addresses: CWE-79

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

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-79

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

SI-15 Information Output Filtering
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.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.5.6 Contact with special interest groups partial match
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