Summary
Nautobot: Stored cross-site scripting (XSS) in object create/edit form help text
Relationship description
A user who holds the add/change permission for Relationships (extras.add_relationship / extras.change_relationship) can set a Relationship's description to an HTML/JavaScript payload. That description is used as the help text of the relationship's form field and is rendered on the create/edit page of every object type the relationship applies to.
Module Family name
A user who holds the add/change permission for Module Families (dcim.add_modulefamily / dcim.change_modulefamily) can put a payload in a Module Family name, which is interpolated into the module_family field's help text on the Module "Install module" form for any module bay assigned to that family.
Workarounds
Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?
There is no configuration-only fix. To remediate without upgrading:
- Restrict the
extras.add_relationship/extras.change_relationshipanddcim.add_modulefamily/dcim.change_modulefamilypermissions to fully trusted administrators only. - Audit existing Relationship description values and Module Family name values for embedded HTML /
<script>content and remove any payloads.
Note that limiting who can open create/edit forms does not fully mitigate the issue, since the payload targets any user (including admins) who opens an affected form.
Credit
Credit for this discovery goes to Habibullo Izzatilloyev.
Impact
What kind of vulnerability is it? Who is impacted?
It has two related instances that share the same root cause: a user-controlled model field is assigned verbatim to a form field's help_text, which is rendered with Django's |safe filter (render_field.html), bypassing auto-escaping.
In both cases the script executes in the browser of any user who opens an affected create or edit form, including administrators and superusers. Because the payload runs in the victim's authenticated session, it can lead to actions performed as the victim, session/token theft, and further privilege escalation. Exploitation requires the victim to open an affected form.
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-2026-83801 has a CVSS score of 5.4 (Medium). 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 (2.4.37, 3.1.8); 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.
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Has the problem been patched? What versions should users upgrade to?
Fixes are available in Nautobot v2.4.37+ & v3.1.8+
Note: The underlying weakness exists in earlier EOL versions of Nautobot (v1.x). Users on those older EOL versions are highly encouraged to upgrade to a supported version.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-83801? CVE-2026-83801 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in nautobot (pip), affecting versions < 2.4.37. It is fixed in 2.4.37, 3.1.8. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
- How severe is CVE-2026-83801? CVE-2026-83801 has a CVSS score of 5.4 (Medium). 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 nautobot are affected by CVE-2026-83801? nautobot (pip) versions < 2.4.37 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-83801? Yes. CVE-2026-83801 is fixed in 2.4.37, 3.1.8. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-83801 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-83801 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-2026-83801 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-2026-83801?
- Upgrade
nautobotto 2.4.37 or later - Upgrade
nautobotto 3.1.8 or later
- Upgrade