Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-46401

CriticalPublic PoC

Published: 23 January 2025

Published
23 January 2025
Modified
04 February 2025
KEV Added
—
Patch
—
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0013 31.7th percentile
Risk Priority 20 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2023-46401 is a critical-severity Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File (CWE-1236) vulnerability in Kwhotel Kwhotel. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 31.7th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-15 (Information Output Filtering).

Deeper analysis

CVE-2023-46401 is a CSV Formula Injection vulnerability in the invoice adding function of KWHotel version 0.47. Published on 2025-01-23, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and is associated with CWE-1236.

The vulnerability can be exploited by any unauthenticated remote attacker over the network, requiring low complexity and no user interaction. Successful exploitation enables high-impact consequences on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Mitigation details are available in the referenced advisory at https://gist.github.com/6en6ar/5d39374d6ced8acbe489e0b1b932d056.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

KWHotel 0.47 is vulnerable to CSV Formula Injection in the invoice adding function.

CWE(s)
CWE-1236

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1204.002 Malicious File Execution
An adversary may rely upon a user opening a malicious file in order to gain execution.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Remote unauthenticated exploitation of public-facing web app via invoice CSV injection directly matches T1190; resulting malicious formula payload in CSV file opened by victim enables T1204.002.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v18.1

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-46400Same product: Kwhotel Kwhotel
CVE-2023-51302Shared CWE-1236
CVE-2020-36962Shared CWE-1236
CVE-2024-45084Shared CWE-1236
CVE-2025-55745Shared CWE-1236
CVE-2026-35157Shared CWE-1236
CVE-2023-53913Shared CWE-1236
CVE-2023-51333Shared CWE-1236
CVE-2024-55532Shared CWE-1236
CVE-2026-23873Shared CWE-1236

Affected Assets

kwhotel
kwhotel
0.47

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

Directly validates user inputs in the invoice adding function to block malicious formulas from being injected into CSV outputs.

SI-15 Information Output Filtering good match
prevent

Filters CSV outputs to encode special characters, preventing formula injection when files are opened in spreadsheet applications.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Requires timely remediation of the specific flaw in KWHotel 0.47 via patching to eliminate the CSV formula injection vulnerability.

References