# CVE-2023-46213: Cross-site Scripting (XSS) on “Show Syntax Highlighted” View in Search Page

> Attackers can execute unauthorized code in user browsers via ineffective escaping in the syntax highlighting feature of the search page.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Nov 2023
- **Updated:** 28 Feb 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vfv2-6xpw-mqmp

## What is CVE-2023-46213?

CVE-2023-46213 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Splunk Splunk, published on 16 Nov 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

In Splunk Enterprise versions below 9.0.7 and 9.1.2, ineffective escaping in the “Show syntax Highlighted” feature can result in the execution of unauthorized code in a user’s web browser.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-46213?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Splunk Cloud, Splunk Splunk.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-46213?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-46213 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-46213 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-46213 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Splunk Splunk

- [CVE-2023-46214](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-46214/): Remote code execution (RCE) in Splunk Enterprise through Insecure XML Parsing (high 8.0)
- [CVE-2024-36982](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-36982/): Denial of Service through null pointer reference in “cluster/config” REST endpoint (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2024-36989](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-36989/): Low-privileged user could create notifications in Splunk Web Bulletin Messages (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2024-23675](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-23675/): Splunk App Key Value Store (KV Store) Improper Handling of Permissions Leads to KV Store Collection Deletion (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2024-36986](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-36986/): Risky command safeguards bypass through Search ID query in Analytics Workspace (medium 6.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-46213 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-46213 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Splunk Splunk, published on 16 Nov 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-46213 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Splunk Splunk. 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-2023-46213/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-46213/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-46213
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-46213
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-46213

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-46213/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.