CVE-2023-20868
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 · uneditedNSX-T contains a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability due to a lack of input validation. A remote attacker can inject HTML or JavaScript to redirect to malicious pages.
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 confidenceVMware NSX-T contains a reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability due to lack of input validation. A remote unauthenticated attacker can inject malicious HTML or JavaScript via unsanitized input parameters, allowing redirection of users to attacker-controlled malicious pages.
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>= 3.2.0, < 3.2.3CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Determine NSX-T installation versionLog into NSX Manager (UI or CLI) and locate the version information. In the UI, this is typically found under System > About or the gear icon. Via CLI, use 'get version' or 'show version' commands. Alternatively, query the API endpoint GET /api/v1/cluster/nodes to retrieve version details.Affected if The displayed version falls within the range 3.2.0 <= version < 3.2.3
-
Verify NSX Manager web interface is accessibleConfirm that the NSX Manager web interface is reachable over the network. This is typically accessible on port 443 (HTTPS) of the NSX Manager appliance(s).Affected if The NSX Manager web interface is externally or internally accessible to untrusted users
-
Identify exposure to unauthenticated accessDetermine whether the vulnerable endpoints accept unauthenticated requests. In NSX-T, certain login pages, error pages, or redirect endpoints may process unsanitized parameters without requiring authentication.Affected if The NSX-T web interface permits unauthenticated access to endpoints that accept user-supplied input parameters (such as query strings or form inputs) without validation
If NSX-T version is 3.2.0 through 3.2.2 (inclusive) and the NSX Manager web interface is accessible to untrusted users, the environment is likely affected by this reflected XSS vulnerability.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
dbcve · scoped3.2.3
Apply VMware's patch for CVE-2023-20868 and implement proper input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied input fields in NSX-T to prevent XSS injection.
3.2.3 or later
- Upgrade VMware NSX T Data Center to version 3.2.3 or later to resolve the reflected XSS vulnerability.
- Verify the upgrade in a staging environment before deploying to production.
- After upgrade, confirm the NSX-T Manager UI is accessible and all services are running properly.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20868 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-20868 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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