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MediawikiCMS

CVE-2023-45373

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.35.12 / 1.39.5 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
An issue was discovered in the ProofreadPage extension for MediaWiki before 1.35.12, 1.36.x through 1.39.x before 1.39.5, and 1.40.x before 1.40.1. XSS can occur via formatNumNoSeparators.

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

Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the ProofreadPage extension for MediaWiki allows injection of malicious scripts via the formatNumNoSeparators function, which fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before rendering it in web pages.

MitigationUpgrade the ProofreadPage extension to version 1.35.12, 1.39.5, or 1.40.1 or later to patch the formatNumNoSeparators XSS 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
MediawikiCMS
Affected:< 1.35.12>= 1.36.0, < 1.39.5= 1.40.0

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. Confirm ProofreadPage extension is installed
    Check your MediaWiki extensions directory for the ProofreadPage extension folder, or query the database table 'extension_credits' where 'ext_name' = 'ProofreadPage'
    Affected if The extension is present and enabled in your MediaWiki installation
  2. Determine ProofreadPage extension version
    Look for a VERSION, composer.json, or extension.json file within the ProofreadPage extension directory to identify its installed version
    Affected if Extension version is unpatched (not 1.35.12, 1.39.5, or 1.40.1 and later)
  3. Determine MediaWiki core version
    Run 'php maintenance/run.php evbld' or check the file 'includes/Defines.php' for the $wgVersion variable, or access /api.php?action=query&meta=siteinfo&format=json
    Affected if MediaWiki core version falls within the affected ranges: < 1.35.12, >= 1.36.0 and < 1.39.5, or exactly 1.40.0
  4. Check if formatNumNoSeparators function is in use
    Search the ProofreadPage extension files for calls to the formatNumNoSeparators function, particularly in files handling number formatting or page rendering
    Affected if The vulnerable function is being called to format user-supplied numeric input without additional sanitization

You are affected if MediaWiki core version is in the affected range AND the ProofreadPage extension with the vulnerable formatNumNoSeparators function is installed and enabled.

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 1.35.12 / 1.39.5 or later
Fixed in 1.35.121.39.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade the ProofreadPage extension to version 1.35.12, 1.39.5, or 1.40.1 or later to patch the formatNumNoSeparators XSS vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Minimum fixed versions: 1.35.12, 1.39.5, or 1.40.1 (choose based on your current branch)

  1. Identify current MediaWiki version by checking LocalSettings.php or the Special:Version page
  2. Identify if the ProofreadPage extension is installed (check composer.json, LocalSettings.php, or Special:Version)
  3. If running MediaWiki < 1.35.12: Plan upgrade to MediaWiki 1.35.12 or later stable 1.35.x release
  4. If running MediaWiki 1.36.x through 1.39.x: Plan upgrade to MediaWiki 1.39.5 or later stable 1.39.x release
  5. If running MediaWiki 1.40.0: Plan upgrade to MediaWiki 1.40.1 or later stable 1.40.x release
  6. Before upgrading, backup the database and all configuration files
  7. Test the upgrade in a staging environment before applying to production
  8. Apply the upgrade following standard MediaWiki upgrade procedures
Caveat Standard MediaWiki upgrade considerations apply; review release notes for your target version for any breaking changes

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

Fix this in Mediawiki Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,770
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,832.

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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-2023-45373 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