CVE-2023-26846
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 stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in OpenCATS v0.9.7 allows attackers to execute arbitrary web scripts or HTML via a crafted payload injected into the city parameter at opencats/index.php?m=candidates.
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 stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in OpenCATS v0.9.7 where malicious JavaScript or HTML can be injected through the city parameter in the candidates module (opencats/index.php?m=candidates). The payload is stored in the database and executes when other users access the affected functionality, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or defacement.
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= 0.9.7CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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.
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Confirm OpenCATS installationLook for the opencats directory or check web server document root for OpenCATS files (index.php, lib directory, etc.)Affected if OpenCATS is installed on the server
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Identify OpenCATS versionCheck the version.php file in the OpenCATS root directory, or look at the login page footer which typically displays the version numberAffected if Version is exactly 0.9.7
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Verify candidates module is accessibleAttempt to access opencats/index.php?m=candidates or check if the Candidates menu option exists in the application navigationAffected if The candidates module is present and accessible to the user
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Test city parameter for XSS storageCreate or edit a candidate record and inject a test XSS payload (e.g., <script>alert('XSS')</script>) into the city field, then view the candidate to see if the script executes when the page rendersAffected if The city field accepts and stores unsanitized input that executes when viewed by other users
You are affected if OpenCATS version 0.9.7 is installed and the candidates module is accessible, with the city field accepting and rendering unsanitized input.
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.
From vendor dataImplement proper input validation and output encoding for the city parameter. Sanitize user-supplied input before storage and apply context-aware escaping when rendering the city field in the candidates interface.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-26846 — 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-2023-26846 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