CVE-2023-48705

Workarounds

Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?

Appropriate object permissions can and should be applied to restrict which users are permitted to create or edit the aforementioned types of user-authored content. Other than that, there is no direct fix available.

References

Are there any links users can visit to find out more?

• https://github.com/nautobot/nautobot/pull/4832
• https://github.com/nautobot/nautobot/pull/4833
• https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.2/ref/utils/#django.utils.html.format_html
• https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.2/ref/utils/#django.utils.safestring.mark_safe

All users of Nautobot versions earlier than 1.6.6 or 2.0.5 are potentially affected.

Due to incorrect usage of Django's mark_safe() API when rendering certain types of user-authored content, including:

• custom links
• job buttons
• computed fields

it is possible that users with permission to create or edit these types of content could craft a malicious payload (such as JavaScript code) that would be executed when rendering pages containing this content.

Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session. Typical impact: session or credential theft, and actions taken as the user.

CVE-2023-48705 has a CVSS score of 7.1 (High). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and user interaction required. 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 (1.6.6, 2.0.5); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Has the problem been patched? What versions should users upgrade to?

We have fixed the incorrect uses of mark_safe() (generally by replacing them with appropriate use of format_html() instead) to prevent such malicious data from being executed.

Users on Nautobot 1.6.x LTM should upgrade to v1.6.6 and users on Nautobot 2.0.x should upgrade to v2.0.5.

1. What is CVE-2023-48705? CVE-2023-48705 is a high-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in nautobot (pip), affecting versions < 1.6.6. It is fixed in 1.6.6, 2.0.5. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
2. How severe is CVE-2023-48705? CVE-2023-48705 has a CVSS score of 7.1 (High). 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 nautobot are affected by CVE-2023-48705? nautobot (pip) versions < 1.6.6 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2023-48705? Yes. CVE-2023-48705 is fixed in 1.6.6, 2.0.5. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2023-48705 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-48705 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-2023-48705 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-2023-48705?
   • Upgrade nautobot to 1.6.6 or later
   • Upgrade nautobot to 2.0.5 or later