CVE-2023-38536
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 · uneditedHTML injection in OpenText™ Exceed Turbo X affecting version 12.5.1. The vulnerability could result in Cross site scripting.
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 confidenceHTML injection vulnerability in OpenText Exceed Turbo X version 12.5.1 allows attackers to inject malicious HTML content into the application interface. This can be leveraged to perform cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, potentially hijacking user sessions or stealing credentials by executing arbitrary JavaScript in victims' browsers.
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= 12.5.0= 12.5.1CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Verify Exceed Turbo X installation versionCheck the installed version of OpenText Exceed Turbo X through Windows Add/Remove Programs, the application's About dialog, or by querying the application's executable properties (right-click the main .exe file and select Properties > Details).Affected if The installed version is exactly 12.5.0 or 12.5.1.
-
Identify web interface endpointsLocate configuration files for Exceed Turbo X (typically in the installation directory under config or conf folders) and review httpd.conf, server.xml, or similar web service configuration files for listening ports and enabled endpoints.Affected if HTTP/HTTPS web interfaces are enabled and exposed.
-
Locate user input handling modulesExamine the application's configuration for modules that handle user-provided data, such as login forms, search fields, file upload interfaces, or custom URL parameters. Check the web.xml or application-specific config files.Affected if The application exposes web forms, query parameters, or API endpoints that accept user input.
-
Review input validation configurationInspect the application's configuration files for any existing input validation or output encoding settings. Look for keywords like 'validate', 'sanitize', 'encode', or 'filter' in configuration files.Affected if No input validation or output encoding is configured, or these settings are disabled.
You are affected if Exceed Turbo X version 12.5.0 or 12.5.1 is installed and the web interface with user input fields is enabled.
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 dataUpdate to a patched version of Exceed Turbo X if available. Otherwise, implement robust input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied data fields to prevent HTML injection and XSS exploitation.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-38536 — 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-2023-38536 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
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.
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.
- 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