# CVE-2023-43657: Improper escaping of encrypted topic titles can lead to Cross-site Scripting under non-default site configuration

> Attackers can execute arbitrary scripts via encrypted topic titles if CSP is disabled, requiring plugin upgrade or CSP enablement.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 28 Sep 2023
- **Updated:** 23 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5fh6-wp7p-xx7v

## What is CVE-2023-43657?

CVE-2023-43657 is a high-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in discourse-encrypt, published on 28 Sep 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

discourse-encrypt is a plugin that provides a secure communication channel through Discourse. Improper escaping of encrypted topic titles could lead to a cross site scripting (XSS) issue when a site has content security policy (CSP) headers disabled. Having CSP disabled is a non-default configuration, and having it disabled with discourse-encrypt installed will result in a warning in the Discourse admin dashboard. This has been fixed in commit `9c75810af9` which is included in the latest version of the discourse-encrypt plugin. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade should ensure that CSP headers are enabled and properly configured.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-43657?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Discourse Discourse-Encrypt.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-43657?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-43657 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-43657 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-43657 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-43657 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-43657 is a high-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in discourse-encrypt, published on 28 Sep 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-43657 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: discourse-encrypt. 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-2023-43657/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-43657/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-43657
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-43657
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-43657

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-43657/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.