CVE-2023-38491

Kirby vulnerable to Cross-site scripting (XSS) from MIME type auto-detection of uploaded files

MEDIUM
5.4
CVSS Score
Published: July 27, 2023 at 03:30 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 06:10 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorKirby

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Severity
MEDIUM5.4
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.6%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

Kirby is a content management system. A vulnerability in versions prior to 3.5.8.3, 3.6.6.3, 3.7.5.2, 3.8.4.1, and 3.9.6 affects all Kirby sites that might have potential attackers in the group of authenticated Panel users or that allow external visitors to upload an arbitrary file to the content folder. Kirby sites are not affected if they don't allow file uploads for untrusted users or visitors or if the file extensions of uploaded files are limited to a fixed safe list. The attack requires user interaction by another user or visitor and cannot be automated. An editor with write access to the Kirby Panel could upload a file with an unknown file extension like `.xyz` that contains HTML code including harmful content like `<script>` tags. The direct link to that file could be sent to other users or visitors of the site. If the victim opened that link in a browser where they are logged in to Kirby and the file had not been opened by anyone since the upload, Kirby would not be able to send the correct MIME content type, instead falling back to `text/html`. The browser would then run the script, which could for example trigger requests to Kirby's API with the permissions of the victim. The issue was caused by the underlying `Kirby\Http\Response::file()` method, which didn't have an explicit fallback if the MIME type could not be determined from the file extension. If you use this method in site or plugin code, these uses may be affected by the same vulnerability. The problem has been patched in Kirby 3.5.8.3, 3.6.6.3, 3.7.5.2, 3.8.4.1, and 3.9.6. In all of the mentioned releases, the maintainers have fixed the affected method to use a fallback MIME type of `text/plain` and set the `X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff` header if the MIME type of the file is unknown.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

95%
v < 3.5.8.3v < 3.6.6.3v < 3.7.5.2v < 3.8.41v < 3.9.63.5.0 ≤ v < 3.5.8.33.6.0 ≤ v < 3.6.6.33.7.0 ≤ v < 3.7.5.23.8.0 ≤ v < 3.8.4.13.9.0 ≤ v < 3.9.6
Affected range stops below 3.5.8.3, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 3.6.6.3, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 3.7.5.2, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 3.8.4.1, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 3.9.6, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
LOW
Integrity
LOW
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-79

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