# CVE-2023-43791: Label Studio has Hardcoded Django `SECRET_KEY` that can be Abused to Forge Session Tokens

> Attackers can exploit a hardcoded Django SECRET_KEY to forge session tokens and escalate privileges to super administrator.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 9 Nov 2023
- **Updated:** 3 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-f475-x83m-rx5m, PYSEC-2023-274

## What is CVE-2023-43791?

CVE-2023-43791 is a critical vulnerability in HumanSignal label-studio, published on 9 Nov 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Label Studio is a multi-type data labeling and annotation tool with standardized output format. There is a vulnerability that can be chained within the ORM Leak vulnerability to impersonate any account on Label Studio. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities to escalate their privileges from a low privilege user to a Django Super Administrator user. The vulnerability was found to affect versions before `1.8.2`, where a patch was introduced.

Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-43791?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including label-studio. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `label-studio` | PyPI | All versions | 1.8.2 |
| `label-studio` | PyPI | All versions | 1.8.2 |
| `label-studio` | PyPI | All versions | 1.8.2 |

Products: Humansignal Label Studio.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-43791?

Upgrade label-studio to 1.8.2 or later.

## Is CVE-2023-43791 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-43791 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in HumanSignal label-studio

- [CVE-2026-22033](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22033/): Label Studio vulnerable to full account takeover by chaining Stored XSS + IDOR in User Profile via custom_hotkeys field (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2025-25297](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-25297/): Label Studio allows Server-Side Request Forgery in the S3 Storage Endpoint (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2025-47783](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-47783/): label-studio vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting (Reflected) via the label_config parameter. (high 7.6)
- [CVE-2023-47117](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47117/): Object Relational Mapper Leak Vulnerability in Filtering Task in Label Studio (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2023-47115](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47115/): Label Studio XSS Vulnerability on Avatar Upload (high 7.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-43791 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-43791 is a critical vulnerability in HumanSignal label-studio, published on 9 Nov 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-43791 exists.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- label-studio (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 1.8.2
- label-studio (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 1.8.2
- label-studio (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 1.8.2

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-2023-43791/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-43791/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-43791
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-43791
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-43791

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-43791/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.