CVE-2023-23917
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 · uneditedA prototype pollution vulnerability exists in Rocket.Chat server <5.2.0 that could allow an attacker to a RCE under the admin account. Any user can create their own server in your cloud and become an admin so this vulnerability could affect the cloud infrastructure. This attack vector also may increase the impact of XSS to RCE which is dangerous for self-hosted users as well.
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 confidenceA prototype pollution vulnerability in Rocket.Chat server versions prior to 5.2.0 allows authenticated attackers (including any user who creates a cloud server and becomes admin) to inject or modify object prototypes, leading to remote code execution when chained with admin privileges. The attack vector affects both cloud deployments (where any user can self-provision and gain admin) and self-hosted instances via XSS escalation.
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< 5.2.0CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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.
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Identify installed Rocket.Chat server versionRun the command: curl -s http://<server-url>/api/info | jq .version or check the admin panel under Administration > Info for the version fieldAffected if The version displayed is lower than 5.2.0 (e.g., 5.1.x, 5.0.x, 4.x.x)
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Determine if cloud self-provisioning is enabledCheck the Cloud settings under Administration > Cloud for options like 'Allow users to create cloud workspaces' or 'Public cloud signup'Affected if Any unauthenticated or low-privilege user can self-provision a cloud server and gain admin access
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Check for existing admin users beyond the initial adminQuery the database: db.users.find({roles: 'admin'}) or view Administration > Users and filter by admin roleAffected if Multiple admin users exist, especially users who created their own accounts through self-provisioning
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Verify Content Security Policy headers are configuredInspect HTTP response headers from the Rocket.Chat server: curl -I https://<server-url> | grep -i content-security-policyAffected if No Content-Security-Policy header is present, leaving XSS vectors available for escalation to RCE
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Check for unauthenticated or low-privilege user accountsReview user list in Administration > Users and verify which accounts were self-created vs manually provisioned by existing adminsAffected if There are users with admin roles who did not originate from the initial server setup
You are affected if your Rocket.Chat server version is below 5.2.0 AND you have authenticated users (especially self-provisioned cloud users or multiple admin accounts) who could exploit prototype pollution to achieve RCE.
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 · scoped5.2.0
Upgrade Rocket.Chat server to version 5.2.0 or later to remediate the prototype pollution vulnerability. For cloud deployments, review user creation policies; for self-hosted, implement Content Security Policy headers to mitigate XSS-to-RCE chaining risks.
5.2.0
- 1. Backup your Rocket.Chat installation and database before upgrading
- 2. Consult Rocket.Chat upgrade documentation for your deployment method (snap, docker, or manual)
- 3. Upgrade Rocket.Chat server to version 5.2.0 or later
- 4. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the server version
- 5. Test that admin functionality and critical features work correctly after upgrade
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-23917 — 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-2023-23917 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
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- 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