CVE-2023-38499

CVSS: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N/E:F/RL:O/RC:C (3.5)

Problem

In multi-site scenarios, enumerating the HTTP query parameters id and L allowed out-of-scope access to rendered content in the website frontend. For instance, this allowed visitors to access content of an internal site by adding handcrafted query parameters to the URL of a site that was publicly available.

Credits

Thanks to Garvin Hicking who reported this issue, and to TYPO3 core & security team members Oliver Hader and Benjamin Franzke who fixed the issue.

References

• TYPO3-CORE-SA-2023-003

CVE-2023-38499 has a CVSS score of 3.7 (Low). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (9.5.42, 10.4.39, 11.5.30, 12.4.4); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Update to TYPO3 versions 9.5.42 ELTS, 10.4.39 ELTS, 11.5.30, 12.4.4 that fix the problem described above.

ℹ️ Strong security defaults - Manual actions required
Resolving sites by the id and L HTTP query parameters is now denied per default. However, it is still allowed to resolve a particular page by e.g. https://example.org/?id=123&L=0 - as long as the page-id 123 is in the scope of the site configured for the base-url example.org.
The new feature flag security.frontend.allowInsecureSiteResolutionByQueryParameters - which is disabled per default - can be used to reactivate the previous behavior.

1. What is CVE-2023-38499? CVE-2023-38499 is a low-severity security vulnerability in typo3/cms-core (composer), affecting versions >= 9.4.0, < 9.5.42. It is fixed in 9.5.42, 10.4.39, 11.5.30, 12.4.4.
2. How severe is CVE-2023-38499? CVE-2023-38499 has a CVSS score of 3.7 (Low). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of typo3/cms-core are affected by CVE-2023-38499? typo3/cms-core (composer) versions >= 9.4.0, < 9.5.42 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2023-38499? Yes. CVE-2023-38499 is fixed in 9.5.42, 10.4.39, 11.5.30, 12.4.4. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2023-38499 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-38499 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2023-38499 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2023-38499?
   • Upgrade typo3/cms-core to 9.5.42 or later
   • Upgrade typo3/cms-core to 10.4.39 or later
   • Upgrade typo3/cms-core to 11.5.30 or later
   • Upgrade typo3/cms-core to 12.4.4 or later

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