CVE-2023-22456: ViewVC XSS vulnerability in revision view changed paths
ViewVC, a browser interface for CVS and Subversion version control repositories, as a cross-site scripting vulnerability that affects versions prior to 1.2.2 and 1.1.29. The impact of this vulnerability is mitigated by the need for an attacker to have commit privileges to a Subversion repository exposed by an otherwise trusted ViewVC instance. The attack vector involves files with unsafe names (names that, when embedded into an HTML stream, would cause the browser to run unwanted code), which themselves can be challenging to create. Users should update to at least version 1.2.2 (if they are using a 1.2.x version of ViewVC) or 1.1.29 (if they are using a 1.1.x version).
ViewVC 1.0.x is no longer supported, so users of that release lineage should implement a workaround. Users can edit their ViewVC EZT view templates to manually HTML-escape changed paths during rendering. Locate in your template set's revision.ezt file references to those changed paths, and wrap them with [format "html"] and [end]. For most users, that means that references to [changes.path] will become [format "html"][changes.path][end]. (This workaround should be reverted after upgrading to a patched version of ViewVC, else changed path names will be doubly escaped.)
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of CVE-2023-22456?
CVE-2023-22456 is classified as a cross-site scripting vulnerability affecting ViewVC versions prior to 1.2.2 and 1.1.29.
How do I fix CVE-2023-22456?
To resolve CVE-2023-22456, upgrade ViewVC to version 1.2.2 or later, or to version 1.1.29.
Which versions of ViewVC are affected by CVE-2023-22456?
CVE-2023-22456 affects ViewVC versions prior to 1.2.2 and 1.1.29.
What type of vulnerability is CVE-2023-22456?
CVE-2023-22456 is classified as a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability.
What conditions are required for exploiting CVE-2023-22456?
Exploitation of CVE-2023-22456 requires the attacker to have commit privileges to a Subversion repository.