Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-5863

MediumPublic PoC

Published: 31 October 2023

Published
31 October 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
KEV Added
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Patch
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CVSS Score v3.1 6.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0622 91.1th percentile
Risk Priority 16 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2023-5863 is a medium-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Phpmyfaq Phpmyfaq. Its CVSS base score is 6.1 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique JavaScript (T1059.007); ranked in the top 8.9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis

CVE-2023-5863 is a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability affecting the thorsten/phpmyfaq GitHub repository in versions prior to 3.2.2. The flaw, classified under CWE-79, permits injection of malicious scripts that execute in the victim's browser context, carrying a CVSS 3.1 score of 6.1 due to its network attack vector, low complexity, lack of required privileges, and changed scope with limited confidentiality and integrity impact.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue by crafting a malicious link or request that reflects attacker-controlled input back to a user who clicks it, resulting in script execution within the phpMyFAQ application domain. Successful exploitation allows limited data exposure or manipulation actions scoped to the affected user's session without broader system compromise.

Public references point to a fix merged in commit 97e813dcd2022bd10a8770569a8b02591716365f, which addresses the reflected XSS vector; administrators are advised to upgrade phpMyFAQ to version 3.2.2 or later. The associated huntr.com bounty entry documents the same remediation path.

EPSS values remain low with only minor fluctuation between the recorded peak of 0.0754 and current score of 0.0622, providing no indication of emerging exploitation interest.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Reflected in GitHub repository thorsten/phpmyfaq prior to 3.2.2.

CWE(s)
CWE-79

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1059.007 JavaScript Execution
Adversaries may abuse various implementations of JavaScript for execution.
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 →
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 →
T1566.002 Spearphishing Link Initial Access
Adversaries may send spearphishing emails with a malicious link in an attempt to gain access to victim systems.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Reflected XSS in phpMyFAQ enables arbitrary JavaScript execution (T1059.007) in victims' browsers via crafted links (T1566.002), exploitation of public-facing web applications (T1190), and stealing web session cookies (T1539).

Affected Assets

phpmyfaq
phpmyfaq
≤ 3.2.2

Mitigating Controls

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.

References