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No exploitation reportedFix available

CVE-2023-28837

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

  • Published2023-04-03
  • Fixed in4.2.2 · 4.1.4
  • WeaknessCWE-400 · CWE-770

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

Wagtail is an open source content management system built on Django. Prior to versions 4.1.4 and 4.2.2, a memory exhaustion bug exists in Wagtail's handling of uploaded images and documents. For both images and documents, files are loaded into memory during upload for additional processing. A user with access to upload images or documents through the Wagtail admin interface could upload a file so large that it results in a crash of denial of service. The vulnerability is not exploitable by an ordinary site visitor without access to the Wagtail admin. It can only be exploited by admin users with permission to upload images or documents. Image uploads are restricted to 10MB by default, however this validation only happens on the frontend and on the backend after the vulnerable code. Patched versions have been released as Wagtail 4.1.4 and Wagtail 4.2.2). Site owners who are unable to upgrade to the new versions are encouraged to add extra protections outside of Wagtail to limit the size of uploaded files.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2023-04-0317:15CVE publishedNVD

Versions per branch

NVD · OSV
Torchbox wagtail
BranchAffectedFixed in
4.2≥ 4.2, < 4.2.24.2.2
4.1< 4.1.44.1.4

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Products declared by the CNA1 product

As GitHub_M, the CNA that assigned this CVE, declared them in the CVE record; versions as written.

  • wagtail
    Affected
    • = < 4.1.4no fix stated
    • = >= 4.2, < 4.2.2no fix stated

Source: the CNA record (CVE Program), © The MITRE Corporation,CVE Terms of UseCVE recordupdated 2023-04-03

Fix

  1. Update Torchbox wagtail to 4.2.2 · 4.1.4

Advisories and patches

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof of concept
Metasploit modules
none listed
Metasploit Framework

Sources

  • CISA-ADPSSVC decisionnone2025-02-11
  • CNACVSS 3.14.9known since 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 3.14.9read 2026-10-23
  • CNAweakness (CWE)CWE-400, CWE-770known since 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score1.1 %2026-11-08
  • OSVaffected packages—
  • GitHub AdvisoriesadvisoryMODERATE2023-04-03

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Published
2023-04-03
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-33pv-vcgh-jfg9

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-28837?

Wagtail is an open source content management system built on Django. Prior to versions 4.1.4 and 4.2.2, a memory exhaustion bug exists in Wagtail's handling of uploaded images and documents. For both images and documents, files are loaded into memory during upload for additional processing. A user with access to upload images or documents through the Wagtail admin interface could upload a file so large that it results in a crash of denial of service. The vulnerability is not exploitable by an ordinary site visitor without access to the Wagtail admin. It can only be exploited by admin users with permission to upload images or documents. Image uploads are restricted to 10MB by default, however this validation only happens on the frontend and on the backend after the vulnerable code. Patched versions have been released as Wagtail 4.1.4 and Wagtail 4.2.2). Site owners who are unable to upgrade to the new versions are encouraged to add extra protections outside of Wagtail to limit the size of uploaded files.

Is CVE-2023-28837 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2023-28837 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 1.1% on 2026-11-08, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-28837?

CVE-2023-28837 has a CVSS v3 base score of 4.9 (MEDIUM severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

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