CVE-2023-6146
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 · uneditedA Qualys web application was found to have a stored XSS vulnerability resulting from the absence of HTML encoding in the presentation of logging information to users. This vulnerability allowed a user with login access to the application to introduce XSS payload via browser details.
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 confidenceA stored XSS vulnerability exists in a Qualys web application's logging functionality where browser details are displayed without HTML encoding. An authenticated user can inject malicious JavaScript via browser details (likely User-Agent string) that gets stored and executed when other users view the logs.
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< 10.24.0.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Qualys Private Cloud Platform installationLocate and confirm the Qualys Private Cloud Platform web application in your environment. This is typically a self-hosted Qualys scanner console.Affected if The system is running Qualys Private Cloud Platform software
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Check installed version numberAccess the Qualys platform admin interface or use the platform's built-in version display function to determine the currently installed version. Compare it against the affected range.Affected if The installed version is lower than 10.24.0.0
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Verify logging module is activeConfirm that the web application logging functionality is enabled and operational. Check if browser details (User-Agent) are being captured in log entries.Affected if Logging functionality is enabled and storing browser details
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Inspect log display for encoding issuesView the log viewer interface where browser details are displayed. Look for any log entries where special characters appear unescaped in the browser detail field.Affected if Browser details render without HTML encoding (visible unescaped characters like <, >, ")
Your environment is affected if you are running Qualys Private Cloud Platform version lower than 10.24.0.0 and the logging feature that displays browser details is active.
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.
dbcve · scoped10.24.0.0
Implement proper HTML encoding/sanitization on all user-supplied data (particularly browser details) before rendering in log views. Use context-appropriate output encoding (e.g., HTML entity encoding) for all logging display endpoints.
10.24.0.0
- 1. Log into the Qualys Private Cloud Platform administration console
- 2. Navigate to the version or system information section to identify the current installed version
- 3. Confirm the current version is below 10.24.0.0
- 4. Create a full backup of the current platform configuration and database
- 5. Download the version 10.24.0.0 or later upgrade package from the Qualys support portal
- 6. Follow Qualys standard upgrade procedures to apply the update
- 7. After upgrade completes, verify the new version is 10.24.0.0 or higher
- 8. Test that browser details are properly HTML-encoded in logging output to confirm XSS remediation
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-6146 — 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-2023-6146 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
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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