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TYPO3CMS

CVE-2021-32768

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 11.3.1 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
TYPO3 is an open source PHP based web content management system released under the GNU GPL. In affected versions failing to properly parse, sanitize and encode malicious rich-text content, the content rendering process in the website frontend is vulnerable to cross-site scripting. Corresponding rendering instructions via TypoScript functionality HTMLparser does not consider all potentially malicious HTML tag & attribute combinations per default. In default scenarios, a valid backend user account is needed to exploit this vulnerability. In case custom plugins used in the website frontend accept and reflect rich-text content submitted by users, no authentication is required. Update to TYPO3 versions 7.6.53 ELTS, 8.7.42 ELTS, 9.5.29, 10.4.19, 11.3.2 that fix the problem described.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

TYPO3 contains a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in its content rendering frontend. The HTMLparser used by TypoScript fails to properly sanitize all malicious HTML tag and attribute combinations in rich-text content, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts. Exploitation requires a backend user account by default, but if custom plugins reflect user-submitted rich-text content in the frontend, no authentication is needed.

MitigationUpdate to TYPO3 versions 7.6.53 ELTS, 8.7.42 ELTS, 9.5.29, 10.4.19, or 11.3.2. Additionally, audit and sanitize any custom frontend plugins that accept rich-text user input.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
TYPO3CMS
Affected:>= 7.0.0, <= 7.6.52>= 8.0.0, <= 8.7.41>= 9.0.0, <= 9.5.28>= 10.0.0, <= 10.4.18>= 11.0.0, <= 11.3.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed TYPO3 version
    Access the TYPO3 admin backend and navigate to 'About' in the help menu, or check the composer.json file or the Version.php file in the TYPO3 core directory
    Affected if The installed version falls within 7.0.0-7.6.52, 8.0.0-8.7.41, 9.0.0-9.5.28, 10.0.0-10.4.18, or 11.0.0-11.3.1
  2. Determine if rich-text editor content is rendered in the frontend
    Review the website frontend templates and TypoScript configuration for usage of lib.parseFunc, tt_content text fields, or any RTE-enabled content elements that are displayed publicly
    Affected if Rich-text content from the backend is rendered in the frontend without additional sanitization beyond TYPO3's default HTMLparser
  3. Audit custom frontend plugins for rich-text input handling
    Search the typo3conf/ext/ directory for custom extensions that accept and display user-submitted content, particularly looking for usage of TYPO3's RTE API or HTML storage in the frontend
    Affected if Custom plugins accept and reflect rich-text or HTML content from users in the frontend output
  4. Review backend user access permissions
    In the TYPO3 backend, go to 'User Management' and check which user groups have access to content creation or rich-text editing capabilities, especially for non-administrator accounts
    Affected if There are backend users with content editing rights who are not fully trusted, or if unauthenticated user input can reach rich-text rendering

You are affected if your TYPO3 installation version is within the affected ranges AND rich-text content from the backend or custom plugins is rendered in the frontend.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 11.3.1
Interim mitigation

Update to TYPO3 versions 7.6.53 ELTS, 8.7.42 ELTS, 9.5.29, 10.4.19, or 11.3.2. Additionally, audit and sanitize any custom frontend plugins that accept rich-text user input.

Fix this in TYPO3 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-32768 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data