# CVE-2023-46253: Remote code execution in Squidex

> An authenticated attacker with restore permissions can achieve remote code execution via path traversal in the backup restore feature.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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:** 7 Nov 2023
- **Updated:** 4 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-phqq-8g7v-3pg5

## What is CVE-2023-46253?

CVE-2023-46253 is a critical path traversal vulnerability in squidex, published on 7 Nov 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Squidex is an open source headless CMS and content management hub. Affected versions are subject to an arbitrary file write vulnerability in the backup restore feature which allows an authenticated attacker to gain remote code execution (RCE). Squidex allows users with the `squidex.admin.restore` permission to create and restore backups. Part of these backups are the assets uploaded to an App. For each asset, the backup zip archive contains a `.asset` file with the actual content of the asset as well as a related `AssetCreatedEventV2` event, which is stored in a JSON file. Amongst other things, the JSON file contains the event type (`AssetCreatedEventV2`), the ID of the asset (`46c05041-9588-4179-b5eb-ddfcd9463e1e`), its filename (`test.txt`), and its file version (`0`). When a backup with this event is restored, the `BackupAssets.ReadAssetAsync` method is responsible for re-creating the asset. For this purpose, it determines the name of the `.asset` file in the zip archive, reads its content, and stores the content in the filestore. When the asset is stored in the filestore via the UploadAsync method, the assetId and fileVersion are passed as arguments. These are further passed to the method GetFileName, which determines the filename where the asset should be stored. The assetId is inserted into the filename without any sanitization and an attacker with squidex.admin.restore privileges to run arbitrary operating system commands on the underlying server (RCE).

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-46253?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Squidex.io Squidex.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-46253?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-46253 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-46253 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-46253 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in squidex

- [CVE-2026-24736](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24736/): Squidex has Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) Issue in Webhook Configuration (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2023-46252](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-46252/): Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) via postMessage Handler in Squidex (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2023-0642](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-0642/): Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in squidex/squidex (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2023-24278](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-24278/): Cross-site scripting in n/a (medium 6.1)
- [CVE-2023-46857](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-46857/): Cross-site scripting in n/a (medium 5.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-46253 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-46253 is a critical path traversal vulnerability in squidex, published on 7 Nov 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-46253 exists.

Affected product: squidex. 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-2023-46253/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-46253/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-46253
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-46253
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-46253

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-46253/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.