# CVE-2023-22451: Weak password requirements in Kiwi TCMS

> Kiwi TCMS allows weak passwords by default, enabling attackers to guess credentials and take over user accounts.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 Jan 2023
- **Updated:** 10 Mar 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-496x-2jqf-hp7g

## What is CVE-2023-22451?

CVE-2023-22451 is a medium-severity vulnerability in kiwitcms Kiwi, published on 2 Jan 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Kiwi TCMS is an open source test management system. In version 11.6 and prior, when users register new accounts and/or change passwords, there is no validation in place which would prevent them from picking an easy to guess password. This issue is resolved by providing defaults for the `AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS` configuration setting. As of version 11.7, the password can’t be too similar to other personal information, must contain at least 10 characters, can’t be a commonly used password, and can’t be entirely numeric. As a workaround, an administrator may reset all passwords in Kiwi TCMS if they think a weak password may have been chosen.

Weakness: CWE-521 (Weak Password Requirements)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-22451?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Kiwitcms Kiwi Tcms.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-22451?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-22451 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-22451 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-22451 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in kiwitcms Kiwi

- [CVE-2023-30628](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-30628/): Kiwi TCMS has command injection vulnerability in changelog.yml CI workflow (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-36809](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-36809/): Kiwi TCMS's misconfigured HTTP headers allow stored XSS execution with Firefox (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2023-33977](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-33977/): Stored cross site scripting (XSS) via unrestricted file upload in Kiwi TCMS (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2023-32686](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-32686/): kiwitcms vulnerable to stored XSS via unrestricted files upload (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2023-30613](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-30613/): Kiwi TCMS unrestricted file upload vulnerability (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-22451 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-22451 is a medium-severity vulnerability in kiwitcms Kiwi, published on 2 Jan 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-22451 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: kiwitcms Kiwi. 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-2023-22451/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-22451/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-22451
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-22451
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-22451

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-22451/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.