# CVE-2023-21983: Missing authorization in Application Express (APEX)

> Unauthenticated attackers can compromise Oracle Application Express Administration to read, modify, or delete data and cause partial denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 18 Jul 2023
- **Updated:** 13 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8cmg-7xg6-h5gq

## What is CVE-2023-21983?

CVE-2023-21983 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Oracle Corporation Application Express (APEX), published on 18 Jul 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Vulnerability in the Application Express Administration product of Oracle Application Express (component: None).  Supported versions that are affected are Application Express Administration: 18.2-22.2. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTP to compromise Application Express Administration.  Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in  unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Application Express Administration accessible data as well as  unauthorized read access to a subset of Application Express Administration accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Application Express Administration. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 5.6 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts).  CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L).

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-21983?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Oracle Application Express.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-21983?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-21983 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-21983 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-21983 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Oracle Corporation Application Express (APEX)

- [CVE-2008-1822](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1822/): Other in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2025-50067](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-50067/): Open redirect in Oracle Application Express (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2023-21974](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-21974/): Cross-site scripting in Application Express (APEX) (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2023-21975](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-21975/): Cross-site scripting in Application Express (APEX) (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2021-32723](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32723/): Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) in Prism (high 7.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-21983 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-21983 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Oracle Corporation Application Express (APEX), published on 18 Jul 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-21983 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Oracle Corporation Application Express (APEX). No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-21983/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-21983/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-21983
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-21983
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-21983

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-21983/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.