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NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

CVE-2023-28836: Wagtail vulnerable to stored Cross-site Scripting attack via ModelAdmin views

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 21/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.77% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 55.8% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. A user must open a link or visit a page. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: wagtail (PyPI) 4.1.4, 4.2.2.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to wagtail (PyPI) 4.1.4, 4.2.2 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

Wagtail is an open source content management system built on Django. Starting in version 1.5 and prior to versions 4.1.4 and 4.2.2, a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists on ModelAdmin views within the Wagtail admin interface. A user with a limited-permission editor account for the Wagtail admin could potentially craft pages and documents that, when viewed by a user with higher privileges, could perform actions with that user's credentials. The vulnerability is not exploitable by an ordinary site visitor without access to the Wagtail admin, and only affects sites with ModelAdmin enabled. For page, the vulnerability is in the "Choose a parent page" ModelAdmin view (`ChooseParentView`), available when managing pages via ModelAdmin. For documents, the vulnerability is in the ModelAdmin Inspect view (`InspectView`) when displaying document fields. 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 can disable or override the corresponding functionality.

MediumCVSS 5.4 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Apr 3, 2023
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
0.7% · 55th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

21

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
21 / 40 · 5.4 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.7%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
5.4
CNA · GitHub_M
6.4
1.0 point gap

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2023-28836

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
torchboxwagtail

Limit the impact of XSS

This is a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability. A well-configured Content-Security-Policy doesn't fix it, but greatly reduces its impact. Check your site's CSP and other security headers for free.

Check security headers

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • torchbox wagtail1.5 and later · before 4.1.4
  • torchbox wagtail4.2 and later · before 4.2.2

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • wagtail wagtail

    • 1.5 and later · before 1.5*affected
    • 4.1.1 and later · before 4.1.1affected
    • 4.2 and later · before 4.2*affected
    • 4.2.2 and later · before 4.2.2affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
PyPIwagtailfrom 1.5 · before 4.1.44.1.4
PyPIwagtailfrom 4.2 · before 4.2.24.2.2

Same product

torchbox: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-54263Wagtail: Reflected XSS in dynamic image URL generator view
    29Monitor
  • CVE-2020-11001Possible XSS attack in Wagtail
    27Monitor
  • CVE-2026-54261Wagtail: Improper permission handling in image preview
    26Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2021-32681Jun 17, 2021 · Improper escaping of HTML ('Cross-site Scripting') in Wagtail StreamField blocks
    21Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2022-21683Jan 18, 2022 · Comment reply notifications sent to incorrect users in wagtail
    17Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2023-28837Apr 3, 2023 · Wagtail vulnerable to denial-of-service via memory exhaustion when uploading large files
    19Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
PyPI:wagtail4.1.4Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:wagtail4.2.2Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • A user must open a link or visit a page.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
low · data can be read
Integrity
low · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
none

Impact can extend beyond the vulnerable component (scope changes).

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality impact
Low
Integrity impact
Low
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

nvd-primary

Root cause

User content is inserted into the page as HTML. The browser interprets the content as code rather than data.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-79 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
commentEl.innerHTML = comment.body;

Fixed

ts
commentEl.textContent = comment.body;

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (7 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records