UserminApplication · Webmin

CVE-2023-41153

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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
A Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the SSH configuration tab in Usermin 2.001 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via options for the host value while editing the host options.

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

A stored XSS vulnerability exists in Usermin 2.001 where the SSH configuration tab fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input in host options. When the malicious payload is saved and subsequently rendered, the injected JavaScript or HTML executes in the context of other users viewing the SSH configuration.

MitigationImplement proper input validation and output encoding for all host option fields in the SSH configuration module. All user-supplied values should be sanitized before storage and HTML-encoded before rendering to prevent script execution.

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
UserminApplication
Affected:= 2.001

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify Usermin version
    Check the installed Usermin version - typically found in the product about page, package metadata, or by querying the webmin/Usermin service directly
    Affected if Version is exactly 2.001
  2. Verify SSH module is accessible
    Confirm the SSH configuration module is enabled and accessible in the Usermin web interface
    Affected if SSH configuration module is available and users can access it
  3. Inspect SSH host configuration storage
    Locate and examine SSH host configuration files where user-supplied host options are stored - look for any stored HTML or JavaScript content in host fields
    Affected if Stored host configurations contain unescaped HTML tags or JavaScript code in host option fields
  4. Check for existing malicious payloads
    Review saved SSH host entries for patterns like <script>, javascript:, onload, or other HTML/script injection patterns in input fields
    Affected if Any host configuration entries contain raw script tags or event handlers
  5. Verify multi-user access exists
    Confirm multiple user accounts exist or have access to view the SSH configuration page where the payload would render
    Affected if Other users can access and view the SSH configuration interface where stored values are displayed

You are affected if running Usermin version 2.001 with the SSH configuration module enabled and any stored host configurations containing unsanitized user input that could execute when viewed by other users.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement proper input validation and output encoding for all host option fields in the SSH configuration module. All user-supplied values should be sanitized before storage and HTML-encoded before rendering to prevent script execution.

Fix this in Usermin Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-41153 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-41153 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