dbcve.org
CommerceApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-38208

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.4.4 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
Adobe Commerce versions 2.4.6-p1 (and earlier), 2.4.5-p3 (and earlier) and 2.4.4-p4 (and earlier) are affected by an Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') vulnerability that could lead to arbitrary code execution by an admin-privilege authenticated attacker. Exploitation of this issue does not require user interaction.

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

Adobe Commerce versions prior to 2.4.6-p2, 2.4.5-p4, and 2.4.4-p5 contain an OS command injection vulnerability in an admin-accessible component. An authenticated attacker with admin privileges can execute arbitrary operating system commands without user interaction, potentially leading to complete system compromise.

MitigationApply the vendor-released security patch or upgrade Adobe Commerce to version 2.4.6-p2, 2.4.5-p4, or 2.4.4-p5 (or later) to remediate this vulnerability.

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
CommerceApplication
Affected:< 2.4.4= 2.4.4= 2.4.5= 2.4.6

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Adobe Commerce version
    Run the CLI command: php bin/magento --version or inspect the composer.json file in the Magento root directory for the 'version' or 'magento/product-community-edition' package version
    Affected if The version is less than 2.4.4, or exactly 2.4.4, 2.4.5, or 2.4.6 (without patch suffixes -p2, -p4, -p5)
  2. Verify admin panel accessibility
    Attempt to access the admin panel URL (typically /admin or /backend) and confirm authentication is possible with valid admin credentials
    Affected if The admin panel is accessible and accepts admin-level credentials, enabling the attacker to reach the vulnerable component
  3. Confirm admin user existence
    Check the admin_users database table or use CLI: php bin/magento admin:user:list to enumerate admin accounts
    Affected if At least one active admin user account exists in the system
  4. Identify vulnerable component exposure
    Review web server access logs for requests to admin-accessible endpoints that handle system command execution, or inspect the application's routing configuration for admin routes that invoke shell commands
    Affected if The application exposes admin-accessible endpoints that process operating system commands through user-supplied input

The environment is affected if Adobe Commerce version is 2.4.4, 2.4.5, or 2.4.6 without the respective patch suffixes (p2, p4, p5), and an authenticated admin user can access the vulnerable component.

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 2.4.4 or later
Fixed in 2.4.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-released security patch or upgrade Adobe Commerce to version 2.4.6-p2, 2.4.5-p4, or 2.4.4-p5 (or later) to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Upgrade to Adobe Commerce 2.4.7 or later, or apply the relevant security patch for your version (consult Adobe Security Bulletin APSB23-40 for specific patch numbers)

  1. Verify current Adobe Commerce version by running `bin/magento --version` in the Commerce root directory
  2. Review the Adobe Commerce release notes and security patches on helpx.adobe.com for the specific fixed version addressing CVE-2023-38208
  3. Create a complete backup of the production environment including database and filesystem
  4. Test the upgrade in a staging environment that mirrors production configuration
  5. Apply the upgrade using Composer: `composer require magento/product-community-edition=<fixed_version> --no-update`
  6. Run `composer update` to resolve dependencies
  7. Clear caches: `bin/magento cache:flush`
  8. Run database migrations if required: `bin/magento setup:upgrade`
Caveat Check Adobe Commerce 2.4.7 release notes for breaking changes; major version upgrades may require PHP version updates and theme/template modifications

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

Fix this in Commerce Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,656.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-38208 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-38208 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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