# CVE-2023-2978: Abstrium Pydio Cells Change Subscription authorization

> Attackers can bypass authorization checks in the Change Subscription Handler of Pydio Cells, potentially altering subscription states without proper permissions.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 30 May 2023
- **Updated:** 2 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mv7x-27pc-8c96, GO-2023-1808

## What is CVE-2023-2978?

CVE-2023-2978 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Abstrium Pydio Cells, published on 30 May 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability was found in Abstrium Pydio Cells 4.2.0. It has been rated as problematic. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the component Change Subscription Handler. The manipulation leads to authorization bypass. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. Upgrading to version 4.2.1 is able to address this issue. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. VDB-230210 is the identifier assigned to this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-2978?

4 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/pydio/cells and github.com/pydio/cells/v4. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `github.com/pydio/cells` | Go | All versions | None |
| `github.com/pydio/cells` | Go | All versions | 4.2.1 |
| `github.com/pydio/cells` | Go | All versions | 4.2.1 |
| `github.com/pydio/cells/v4` | Go | All versions | 4.2.1 |

Products: Abstrium Pydio Cells.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-2978?

Upgrade github.com/pydio/cells to 4.2.1 or later.

## Is CVE-2023-2978 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-2978 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Abstrium Pydio Cells

- [CVE-2023-2980](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2980/): Abstrium Pydio Cells User Creation resource injection (medium 6.3)
- [CVE-2023-2979](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2979/): Abstrium Pydio Cells User Creation access control (medium 4.7)
- [CVE-2023-2981](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2981/): Abstrium Pydio Cells Chat cross site scripting (low 3.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-2978 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-2978 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Abstrium Pydio Cells, published on 30 May 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-2978 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- github.com/pydio/cells (Go): affected all versions; no fix listed
- github.com/pydio/cells (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 4.2.1
- github.com/pydio/cells (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 4.2.1
- github.com/pydio/cells/v4 (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 4.2.1

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-2023-2978/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2978/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-2978
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-2978
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-2978

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2978/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.