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No exploitation reportedFix available

CVE-2023-38488

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

  • Published2023-07-27
  • Fixed in3.9.6 · 3.8.4.1 · 3.7.5.2 · 3.6.6.3 · 3.5.8.3
  • WeaknessCWE-140 · CWE-863

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

Kirby is a content management system. A vulnerability in versions prior to 3.5.8.3, 3.6.6.3, 3.7.5.2, 3.8.4.1, and 3.9.6 affects all Kirby sites that might have potential attackers in the group of authenticated Panel users or that allow external visitors to update a Kirby content file (e.g. via a contact or comment form). Kirby sites are *not* affected if they don't allow write access for untrusted users or visitors. A field injection in a content storage implementation is a type of vulnerability that allows attackers with content write access to overwrite content fields that the site developer didn't intend to be modified. In a Kirby site this can be used to alter site content, break site behavior or inject malicious data or code. The exact security risk depends on the field type and usage. Kirby stores content of the site, of pages, files and users in text files by default. The text files use Kirby's KirbyData format where each field is separated by newlines and a line with four dashes (`----`). When reading a KirbyData file, the affected code first removed the Unicode BOM sequence from the file contents and afterwards split the content into fields by the field separator. When writing to a KirbyData file, field separators in field data are escaped to prevent user input from interfering with the field structure. However this escaping could be tricked by including a Unicode BOM sequence in a field separator (e.g. `--\xEF\xBB\xBF--`). When writing, this was not detected as a separator, but because the BOM was removed during reading, it could be abused by attackers to inject other field data into content files. Because each field can only be defined once per content file, this vulnerability only affects fields in the content file that were defined above the vulnerable user-writable field or not at all. Fields that are defined below the vulnerable field override the injected field content and were therefore already protected. The problem has been patched in Kirby 3.5.8.3, 3.6.6.3, 3.7.5.2, 3.8.4.1, and 3.9.6. In all of the mentioned releases, the maintainers have fixed the affected code to only remove the Unicode BOM sequence at the beginning of the file. This fixes this vulnerability both for newly written as well as for existing content files.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2023-07-2715:15CVE publishedNVD

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2023-38488?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2023-38488?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD · OSV
Getkirby kirby
BranchAffectedFixed in
3.9≥ 3.9.0, < 3.9.63.9.6
3.8≥ 3.8.0, < 3.8.4.13.8.4.1
3.7≥ 3.7.0, < 3.7.5.23.7.5.2
3.6≥ 3.6.0, < 3.6.6.33.6.6.3
3.5≥ 3.5.0, < 3.5.8.33.5.8.3
3.5< 3.5.8.33.5.8.3

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

Fix

  1. Update Getkirby kirby to 3.9.6 · 3.8.4.1 · 3.7.5.2 · 3.6.6.3 · 3.5.8.3

Advisories and patches

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
none listed
PoC-in-GitHub

Sources

  • CISA-ADPSSVC decisionnone2024-10-17
  • OpenCVESSVC decisionnone—
  • CNACVSS 3.17.1read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 3.18.8read 2026-10-23
  • CNAweakness (CWE)CWE-140read 2026-10-23
  • NVDweakness (CWE)CWE-863read 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score0.9 %2026-10-23
  • OSVaffected packages—

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2023-07-27
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-38488?

Kirby is a content management system. A vulnerability in versions prior to 3.5.8.3, 3.6.6.3, 3.7.5.2, 3.8.4.1, and 3.9.6 affects all Kirby sites that might have potential attackers in the group of authenticated Panel users or that allow external visitors to update a Kirby content file (e.g. via a contact or comment form). Kirby sites are *not* affected if they don't allow write access for untrusted users or visitors. A field injection in a content storage implementation is a type of vulnerability that allows attackers with content write access to overwrite content fields that the site developer didn't intend to be modified. In a Kirby site this can be used to alter site content, break site behavior or inject malicious data or code. The exact security risk depends on the field type and usage. Kirby stores content of the site, of pages, files and users in text files by default. The text files use Kirby's KirbyData format where each field is separated by newlines and a line with four dashes (`----`). When reading a KirbyData file, the affected code first removed the Unicode BOM sequence from the file contents and afterwards split the content into fields by the field separator. When writing to a KirbyData file, field separators in field data are escaped to prevent user input from interfering with the field structure. However this escaping could be tricked by including a Unicode BOM sequence in a field separator (e.g. `--\xEF\xBB\xBF--`). When writing, this was not detected as a separator, but because the BOM was removed during reading, it could be abused by attackers to inject other field data into content files. Because each field can only be defined once per content file, this vulnerability only affects fields in the content file that were defined above the vulnerable user-writable field or not at all. Fields that are defined below the vulnerable field override the injected field content and were therefore already protected. The problem has been patched in Kirby 3.5.8.3, 3.6.6.3, 3.7.5.2, 3.8.4.1, and 3.9.6. In all of the mentioned releases, the maintainers have fixed the affected code to only remove the Unicode BOM sequence at the beginning of the file. This fixes this vulnerability both for newly written as well as for existing content files.

Is CVE-2023-38488 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2023-38488 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 0.9% on 2026-10-23, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-38488?

CVE-2023-38488 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.8 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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