Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-50231

XSS in Netgear Prosafe Network Management System ≤ 1.7.0.31

High EPSSXSS
Published
03 May 2024
Modified
07 February 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.53 99th percentile
Risk Priority 89 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-50231 is a critical-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Netgear Prosafe Network Management System. Its CVSS base score is 9.6 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Browser Session Hijacking (T1185); ranked in the top 1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

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-2023-50231 is a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in the saveNodeLabel method of NETGEAR ProSAFE Network Management System. The flaw stems from insufficient validation of user-supplied input, allowing arbitrary script injection that can be leveraged for privilege escalation on affected installations. It carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.6 and is tracked under CWE-79; the issue was originally reported as ZDI-CAN-21838.

Remote attackers can exploit the vulnerability over the network with minimal user interaction required. Successful exploitation permits an attacker to inject and execute scripts in the context of other users, thereby gaining access to resources and privileges that would normally be restricted.

NETGEAR has published a security advisory (PSV-2023-0106) covering stored cross-site scripting on NMS300 that directs administrators to apply available updates or mitigations. The Zero Day Initiative advisory ZDI-23-1847 provides additional technical details on the same issue. The associated EPSS score has remained flat at 0.2626 with no material increase observed after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

NETGEAR ProSAFE Network Management System saveNodeLabel Cross-Site Scripting Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of NETGEAR ProSAFE Network Management System. Minimal user interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw…

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exists within the saveNodeLabel method. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can lead to the injection of an arbitrary script. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges to resources normally protected from the user. Was ZDI-CAN-21838.

CWE(s)
CWE-79

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1185 Browser Session Hijacking Collection
Adversaries may take advantage of security vulnerabilities and inherent functionality in browser software to change content, modify user-behaviors, and intercept information as part of various browser session hijacking techniques.
attack.mitre.org →
T1539 Steal Web Session Cookie Credential Access
An adversary may steal web application or service session cookies and use them to gain access to web applications or Internet services as an authenticated user without needing credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1659 Content Injection Initial Access
Adversaries may gain access and continuously communicate with victims by injecting malicious content into systems through online network traffic.
attack.mitre.org →
T1189 Drive-by Compromise Initial Access
Adversaries may gain access to a system through a user visiting a website over the normal course of browsing.
attack.mitre.org →
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 →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-2381Same vendor: Netgear
CVE-2023-2387Same vendor: Netgear
CVE-2023-2386Same vendor: Netgear
CVE-2023-2393Same vendor: Netgear
CVE-2023-2390Same vendor: Netgear
CVE-2023-2396Same vendor: Netgear
CVE-2023-2392Same vendor: Netgear
CVE-2023-2385Same vendor: Netgear
CVE-2023-2395Same vendor: Netgear
CVE-2023-2383Same vendor: Netgear

Affected Assets

netgear
prosafe network management system
≤ 1.7.0.31

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

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing or incorrect input neutralization through targeted web-application tests.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly enforces neutralization of untrusted data before it reaches web output generation.

SI-15 Information Output Filtering good match

Output filtering can catch or sanitize unneutralized script content before it is served to users.

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
prevents

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
prevents

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Secure-coding testing and automated code-analysis tools are applied to detect improper neutralization of script-related content during web-page generation.

A.5.6 Contact with special interest groups partial match
prevents

Knowledge exchange on emerging attack techniques and patches reduces the likelihood that cross-site scripting flaws remain unaddressed in deployed applications.

A.5.7 Threat intelligence partial match
prevents

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.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

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.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

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.

A.8.7 Protection against malware none match
none

Webpage malware scanning and block-listing of known malicious sites reduce the likelihood that reflected or stored script payloads reach a user’s browser.

References