Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:NCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-44393 is a critical-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Piwigo Piwigo. Its CVSS base score is 9.3 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Browser Session Hijacking (T1185); ranked in the top 32% 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.
Piwigo, an open source photo gallery application, contains a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability in versions prior to 14.0.0beta4. The flaw exists on the administrative page at /admin.php?page=plugins&tab=new&installstatus=ok&plugin_id=, where the plugin_id parameter from the URL is inserted directly into the HTML response without sanitization. This is tracked under CWE-79 and CWE-80 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.3.
An unauthenticated attacker can exploit the issue by crafting a malicious URL containing arbitrary HTML or JavaScript in the plugin_id value. When an administrator who is already authenticated visits the link, the injected code executes in the context of the admin session, enabling actions such as account takeover or unauthorized configuration changes. Only logged-in administrators are affected because the vulnerable endpoint is restricted to that role.
The project addressed the flaw in version 14.0.0beta4 through changes committed to the Piwigo repository, as documented in the associated GitHub security advisory. The EPSS score has remained flat at 0.0624 with no material increase since disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-48739
Vulnerability Data
Piwigo is an open source photo gallery application. Prior to version 14.0.0beta4, a reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability is in the` /admin.php?page=plugins&tab=new&installstatus=ok&plugin_id=[here]` page. This vulnerability can be exploited by an attacker to inject malicious HTML and JS code into the…
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HTML page, which could then be executed by admin users when they visit the URL with the payload. The vulnerability is caused by the insecure injection of the `plugin_id` value from the URL into the HTML page. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by crafting a malicious URL that contains a specially crafted `plugin_id` value. When a victim who is logged in as an administrator visits this URL, the malicious code will be injected into the HTML page and executed. This vulnerability can be exploited by any attacker who has access to a malicious URL. However, only users who are logged in as administrators are affected. This is because the vulnerability is only present on the `/admin.php?page=plugins&tab=new&installstatus=ok&plugin_id=[here]` page, which is only accessible to administrators. Version 14.0.0.beta4 contains a patch for this issue.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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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.
Penetration testing submits XSS payloads to web applications, detecting cross-site scripting flaws for subsequent remediation.
Validates web inputs to reject script-related content that could produce XSS.
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.
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).
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.
Secure-coding testing and automated code-analysis tools are applied to detect improper neutralization of script-related content during web-page generation.
Knowledge exchange on emerging attack techniques and patches reduces the likelihood that cross-site scripting flaws remain unaddressed in deployed applications.
Operational indicators of compromise for web-application attacks can be incorporated into WAF or input-filtering rules, lowering the likelihood that unsanitized data reaches the browser.
Requiring language-specific secure-coding standards and automated scanning during the SDLC catches missing output encoding or improper neutralization of untrusted data before the software reaches production.
Application security requirements explicitly call for neutralization of script-related HTML tags.
Secure-coding standards, SAST scans and removal of insecure code samples together eliminate the failure to neutralize script content that produces cross-site scripting flaws.