Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-5891

XSS in Sfu Pkp Web Application Library ≤ 3.3.0-16

Public PoCXSS
Published
01 November 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0040 33th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-5891 is a medium-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Sfu Pkp Web Application Library. Its CVSS base score is 5.4 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique JavaScript (T1059.007); ranked at the 33th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Reflected in GitHub repository pkp/pkp-lib prior to 3.3.0-16.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1059.007 JavaScript Execution
Adversaries may abuse various implementations of JavaScript for execution.
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.
T1555.003 Credentials from Web Browsers Credential Access
Adversaries may acquire credentials from web browsers by reading files specific to the target browser.
Why these techniques?

Reflected XSS vulnerability allows injection of malicious JavaScript into web responses, enabling arbitrary JS execution in victims' browsers (T1059.007), theft of web session cookies (T1539), and collection of browser-stored credentials (T1555.003).

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-5895Same product: Sfu Pkp Web Application Library
CVE-2023-5892Same product: Sfu Pkp Web Application Library
CVE-2023-5890Same product: Sfu Pkp Web Application Library
CVE-2023-5896Same product: Sfu Pkp Web Application Library
CVE-2023-5903Same product: Sfu Pkp Web Application Library
CVE-2023-5904Same product: Sfu Pkp Web Application Library
CVE-2023-5901Same product: Sfu Pkp Web Application Library
CVE-2023-5894Same vendor: Sfu
CVE-2023-5302Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-6710Shared CWE-79

Affected Assets

sfu
pkp web application library
≤ 3.3.0-16

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.

addresses: CWE-79

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

addresses: CWE-79

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

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
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.

detects

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

prevents

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

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.

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.

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.

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