# CVE-2023-2453: Local file Inclusion (LFI) in Forum Infusion via Directory Traversal

> Attackers can execute arbitrary PHP code via local file inclusion in PHPFusion's Forum Infusion due to insufficient path sanitization.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 5 Sep 2023
- **Updated:** 27 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jhqc-77ch-jg99

## What is CVE-2023-2453?

CVE-2023-2453 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in PHPFusion, published on 5 Sep 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

There is insufficient sanitization of tainted file names that are directly concatenated with a path that is subsequently passed to a ‘require_once’ statement. This allows arbitrary files with the ‘.php’ extension for which the absolute path is known to be included and executed. There are no known means in PHPFusion through which an attacker can upload and target a ‘.php’ file payload.

Weakness: CWE-829 (Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-2453?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Php-Fusion Phpfusion.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-2453?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-2453 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-2453 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-2453 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in PHPFusion

- [CVE-2022-3152](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3152/): Unverified Password Change in phpfusion/phpfusion (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2020-23754](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-23754/): Cross-site scripting in n/a (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2020-37137](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-37137/): PHP-Fusion 9.03.50 - 'panels.php' Eval Injection (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2021-40188](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40188/): File upload in n/a (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2021-40189](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40189/): File upload in n/a (high 7.2)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-2453 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-2453 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in PHPFusion, published on 5 Sep 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-2023-2453 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: PHPFusion. 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-2023-2453/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2453/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-2453
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-2453
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-2453

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2453/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.