CVE-2023-23623: Content-Secrity-Policy disabling eval not applied consistently in renderers with sandbox disabled in Electron

Published Sep 6, 2023
·
Updated

Impact A Content-Security-Policy that disables eval, specifically setting a script-src directive and not providing unsafe-eval in that directive, is not respected in renderers that have sandbox and contextIsolation disabled. i.e. sandbox: false and contextIsolation: false in the webPreferences object.

This resulted in incorrectly allowing usage of methods like eval() and new Function, which can result in an expanded attack surface.

Patches This issue only ever affected the 22 and 23 major versions of Electron and has been fixed in the latest versions of those release lines. Specifically, these versions contain the fixes:

- 22.0.1 - 23.0.0-alpha.2

We recommend all apps upgrade to the latest stable version of Electron, especially if they use sandbox: false or contextIsolation: false.

Workarounds If upgrading isn't possible, this issue can be addressed without upgrading by enabling at least one of sandbox: true or contextIsolation: true on all renderers.

js const mainWindow = new BrowserWindow({ webPreferences: { sandbox: true, } });

For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, email us at security@electronjs.org.

Credit Thanks to user @andreasdj for reporting this issue.

Other sources

Electron is a framework which lets you write cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. A Content-Security-Policy that disables eval, specifically setting a script-src directive and not providing unsafe-eval in that directive, is not respected in renderers that have sandbox disabled. i.e. sandbox: false in the webPreferences object. This allows usage of methods like eval() and new Function unexpectedly which can result in an expanded attack surface. This issue only ever affected the 22 and 23 major versions of Electron and has been fixed in the latest versions of those release lines. Specifically, these versions contain the fixes: 22.0.1 and 23.0.0-alpha.2 We recommend all apps upgrade to the latest stable version of Electron. If upgrading isn't possible, this issue can be addressed without upgrading by enabling sandbox: true on all renderers.

Affected Software

12 affected componentsFixes available
npm/electron>=23.0.0-alpha.1<23.0.0-alpha.2
23.0.0-alpha.2
npm/electron>=22.0.0-beta.1<22.0.1
22.0.1
electronjs Electron Node.js=22.0.0
electronjs Electron Node.js=22.0.0-beta1
electronjs Electron Node.js=22.0.0-beta2
electronjs Electron Node.js=22.0.0-beta3
electronjs Electron Node.js=22.0.0-beta4
electronjs Electron Node.js=22.0.0-beta5
electronjs Electron Node.js=22.0.0-beta6
electronjs Electron Node.js=22.0.0-beta7
electronjs Electron Node.js=22.0.0-beta8
electronjs Electron Node.js=23.0.0-alpha1

Event History

Sep 6, 2023
Advisory Published
06:42 PM
CVE Published
via MITRE·08:16 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·08:16 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Free Weekly Intel

Don't miss critical vulnerabilities

Join thousands of security professionals who receive our weekly digest of trending CVEs, zero-days, and exploited vulnerabilities.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the impact of CVE-2023-23623?

The impact of CVE-2023-23623 is the bypassing of Content-Security-Policy restrictions in renderers that have sandbox and contextIsolation disabled.

2

How can I fix CVE-2023-23623?

To fix CVE-2023-23623, you should update Electron to version 23.0.0-alpha.2 or apply the recommended patches.

3

What is the severity of CVE-2023-23623?

The severity of CVE-2023-23623 is critical with a CVSS score of 9.8.

4

Where can I find more information about CVE-2023-23623?

You can find more information about CVE-2023-23623 on the official Electron GitHub security advisory page.

5

What is the CWE ID for CVE-2023-23623?

The CWE ID for CVE-2023-23623 is CWE-670.

Contact

SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
132 Wickham Terrace
Fortitude Valley,
QLD 4006, Australia
info@secalerts.co
By using SecAlerts services, you agree to our services end-user license agreement. This website is safeguarded by reCAPTCHA and governed by the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. All names, logos, and brands of products are owned by their respective owners, and any usage of these names, logos, and brands for identification purposes only does not imply endorsement. If you possess any content that requires removal, please get in touch with us.
© 2026 SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
ABN: 70 645 966 203, ACN: 645 966 203