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DecidimApplication

CVE-2023-32693

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 0.26.7 / 0.27.3 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
Decidim is a participatory democracy framework, written in Ruby on Rails, originally developed for the Barcelona City government online and offline participation website. The external link feature is susceptible to cross-site scripting. This allows a remote attacker to execute JavaScript code in the context of a currently logged-in user. An attacker could use this vulnerability to make other users endorse or support proposals they have no intention of supporting or endorsing. The problem was patched in versions 0.27.3 and 0.26.7.

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

Decidim's external link feature contains a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability that allows remote attackers to inject malicious JavaScript into the context of a logged-in user's session. This enables the attacker to perform unauthorized actions such as endorsing or supporting proposals on behalf of the victim.

MitigationUpgrade Decidim to version 0.27.3, 0.26.7, or later to incorporate the patched code that properly sanitizes external link output.

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
DecidimApplication
Affected:< 0.26.7>= 0.27.0, < 0.27.3

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 Decidim version
    Locate the version file or configuration that stores the Decidim release version in your deployment (e.g., Gemfile.lock, version file, or admin interface).
    Affected if The installed version is less than 0.26.7, or greater than or equal to 0.27.0 but less than 0.27.3.
  2. Confirm external link feature is in use
    Determine whether your Decidim instance has the external link feature enabled or configured, as this is the required attack surface for the XSS vulnerability.
    Affected if External links are enabled and users can create or modify content containing external URLs.
  3. Inspect external links for unsanitized content
    Review any user-submitted content that includes external links (such as proposal descriptions, comments, or pages) to verify if HTML or script tags appear unescaped in the rendered output.
    Affected if External links render with unsanitized HTML or script content visible in the page source.
  4. Audit recent user actions for suspicious activity
    Check logs or audit trails for any unauthorized endorsements or supports of proposals that occurred without corresponding legitimate user activity.
    Affected if Endorsements or supports exist that were not initiated by the affected users through normal interface interactions.

You are affected if your Decidim version falls within the vulnerable ranges AND the external link feature is enabled, allowing injection of malicious script content into rendered pages.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 0.26.7 / 0.27.3 or later
Fixed in 0.26.70.27.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Decidim to version 0.27.3, 0.26.7, or later to incorporate the patched code that properly sanitizes external link output.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Decidim 0.26.7 (for 0.26.x line) or 0.27.3 (for 0.27.x line)

  1. 1. Identify your current Decidim version by checking the Gemfile.lock or running `bundle show decidim`
  2. 2. Back up your database and application data before proceeding with the upgrade
  3. 3. Update your Gemfile to specify the appropriate fixed version: For 0.26.x line, use `gem 'decidim', '0.26.7'`; For 0.27.x line, use `gem 'decidim', '0.27.3'`
  4. 4. Run `bundle install` to update dependencies
  5. 5. Run `bundle exec rake db:migrate` to apply any necessary database migrations
  6. 6. Precompile assets if needed: `bundle exec rake assets:precompile`
  7. 7. Restart your application servers to load the new version
  8. 8. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version and testing the external link functionality
Caveat Review the Decidim release notes for 0.26.7 and 0.27.3 to check for any breaking changes or deprecations between your current version and the target version before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Decidim Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,950
Get the upgrade done

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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-2023-32693 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