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OtrsApplication

CVE-2023-5421

MEDIUM · 5.5 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 →
61/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
An attacker who is logged into OTRS as an user with privileges to create and change customer user data may manipulate the CustomerID field to execute JavaScript code that runs immediatly after the data is saved.The issue onlyoccurs if the configuration for AdminCustomerUser::UseAutoComplete was changed before. 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 · high confidence

A stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in OTRS allows authenticated users with customer user management privileges to inject malicious JavaScript into the CustomerID field, which executes immediately after the data is saved. The vulnerability is triggered only when the AdminCustomerUser::UseAutoComplete configuration has been previously modified.

MitigationUpgrade to OTRS 7.0.47, 8.0.37, or OTRS Community Edition 6.0.35 or later to patch the XSS vulnerability; alternatively, restrict customer user management privileges to trusted administrators only until patching is possible.

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/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. Check OTRS version
    Locate the OTRS installation and identify the installed version number (typically found in a version file or system info page)
    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. Verify AdminCustomerUser::UseAutoComplete setting
    Access the OTRS system configuration (SysConfig) and locate the AdminCustomerUser::UseAutoComplete parameter to check its current value
    Affected if The AdminCustomerUser::UseAutoComplete setting has been modified from its default value (any non-default value)
  3. Confirm customer user management privileges
    Review user roles and permissions to identify which authenticated users have customer user management privileges enabled
    Affected if Any authenticated user account has customer user management privileges assigned
  4. Inspect CustomerID field for existing payloads
    Access the customer user management interface and examine the CustomerID field in the user database for any suspicious script tags or JavaScript content
    Affected if The CustomerID field contains stored XSS payloads (script tags, event handlers, or encoded JavaScript)

A user is affected if their OTRS version is within the affected ranges AND the AdminCustomerUser::UseAutoComplete setting has been modified from default AND customer user management privileges exist for at least one authenticated user.

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 to patch the XSS vulnerability; alternatively, restrict customer user management privileges to trusted administrators only until patching is possible.

Recommended fix High confidence

OTRS 6.0.35+, 7.0.47+, or 8.0.37+ (depending on your major version)

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed OTRS version using the admin dashboard or by checking the version file.
  2. 2. For OTRS 6.0.x versions (Community Edition): Upgrade to version 6.0.35 or later.
  3. 3. For OTRS 7.0.x versions: Upgrade to version 7.0.47 or later.
  4. 4. For OTRS 8.0.x versions: Upgrade to version 8.0.37 or later.
  5. 5. After upgrading, verify the AdminCustomerUser::UseAutoComplete setting in the system configuration.
  6. 6. Test that customer user data can be created and modified without issues.
  7. 7. Verify that the XSS payload can no longer be executed in the CustomerID field.
Caveat Review release notes for any configuration or feature changes between your current version and the target version; test thoroughly in a non-production environment first

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

Fix this in Otrs Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2023-5421 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