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OtrsApplication

CVE-2023-38059

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.0.47 / 8.0.37 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
The loading of external images is not blocked, even if configured, if the attacker uses protocol-relative URL in the payload. This can be used to retreive the IP of the user.This issue affects OTRS: from 7.0.X before 7.0.47, from 8.0.X before 8.0.37; ((OTRS)) Community Edition: from 6.0.X through 6.0.34.

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 · moderate confidence

OTRS has a security feature to block external image loading (to prevent IP leakage via image requests), but this protection can be bypassed using protocol-relative URLs (URLs starting with // instead of http:// or https://). An attacker can craft a payload with a protocol-relative URL to load external images and capture user IP addresses.

MitigationUpgrade to OTRS 7.0.47, 8.0.37, or OTRS Community Edition 6.0.35 or later, which properly handle protocol-relative URLs in the image blocking logic.

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
OtrsApplication
Affected:>= 6.0.0, <= 6.0.34>= 7.0.0, < 7.0.47>= 8.0.0, < 8.0.37

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/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 OTRS installation and version
    Access the OTRS admin panel (usually at /otrs/index.pl or /index.pl) and navigate to Admin > System Administration > System Information, or check the OTRS.pm file in the kernel directory for the version string
    Affected if The installed version falls within 6.0.0-6.0.34, 7.0.0-7.0.46, or 8.0.0-8.0.36
  2. Locate external image blocking setting
    In the OTRS admin interface, go to SysConfig and search for settings related to 'Image', 'External', 'Blocking', or 'IP' protection. Common paths include Core::Ticket and Security settings groups
    Affected if The external image blocking feature is enabled in the system configuration
  3. Verify image blocking behavior with normal URLs
    Create a test article or notification containing an external image URL (http://example.com/image.png) and inspect whether OTRS blocks or filters the image request
    Affected if The system demonstrates it has image blocking capability but may not handle all URL formats
  4. Test protocol-relative URL handling
    Insert a protocol-relative URL (//example.com/image.png) in a test ticket or notification and observe whether the image loads or is blocked. Compare against a standard http:// URL
    Affected if Protocol-relative URLs bypass the blocking while http:// URLs are blocked, indicating the vulnerability is present

You are affected if your OTRS version is 6.0.34 or earlier, 7.0.46 or earlier, or 8.0.36 or earlier AND the external image blocking feature is enabled and can be bypassed using protocol-relative URLs.

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 7.0.47 / 8.0.37 or later
Fixed in 7.0.478.0.37
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to OTRS 7.0.47, 8.0.37, or OTRS Community Edition 6.0.35 or later, which properly handle protocol-relative URLs in the image blocking logic.

Recommended fix High confidence

OTRS 7.0.47+ or OTRS 8.0.37+ (OTRS 6.0.x is end-of-life; migrate to 7.x or 8.x)

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed OTRS version by checking the version file or admin interface.
  2. 2. For OTRS 6.0.x: Note that version 6.0.x has reached end-of-life; plan migration to OTRS 7.0.47 or OTRS 8.0.37.
  3. 3. For OTRS 7.0.x: Upgrade to version 7.0.47 or later which contains the security fix.
  4. 4. For OTRS 8.0.x: Upgrade to version 8.0.37 or later which contains the security fix.
  5. 5. Before upgrading, perform a complete backup of the OTRS database, configuration files, and any custom scripts.
  6. 6. Review the OTRS upgrade documentation for your specific version transition.
  7. 7. After upgrade, verify that the 'ExpireManagement' or image blocking configuration works correctly with protocol-relative URLs.
Caveat Upgrading across major version branches (6.x to 7.x or 8.x) may require database schema changes and configuration updates; review release notes for breaking changes and custom code compatibility.

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

Fix this in Otrs Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2023-38059 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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