CVE-2023-47115 Label Studio XSS Vulnerability on Avatar Upload

High 7.1 Published 23 Jan 2024 Updated 30 May 2025

Authenticated users can upload crafted images with HTML extensions to execute arbitrary JavaScript, potentially escalating privileges to administrator.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: A user has to click or open something
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2023-47115?

CVE-2023-47115 is a high-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in HumanSignal label-studio, published on 23 Jan 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

Label Studio is an a popular open source data labeling tool. Versions prior to 1.9.2 have a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability that could be exploited when an authenticated user uploads a crafted image file for their avatar that gets rendered as a HTML file on the website. Executing arbitrary JavaScript could result in an attacker performing malicious actions on Label Studio users if they visit the crafted avatar image. For an example, an attacker can craft a JavaScript payload that adds a new Django Super Administrator user if a Django administrator visits the image.

The file `users/functions.py` lines 18-49 show that the only verification check is that the file is an image by extracting the dimensions from the file. Label Studio serves avatar images using Django's built-in `serve` view, which is not secure for production use according to Django's documentation. The issue with the Django `serve` view is that it determines the `Content-Type` of the response by the file extension in the URL path. Therefore, an attacker can upload an image that contains malicious HTML code and name the file with a `.html` extension to be rendered as a HTML page. The only file extension validation is performed on the client-side, which can be easily bypassed.

Version 1.9.2 fixes this issue. Other remediation strategies include validating the file extension on the server side, not in client-side code; removing the use of Django's `serve` view and implement a secure controller for viewing uploaded avatar images; saving file content in the database rather than on the filesystem to mitigate against other file related vulnerabilities; and avoiding trusting user controlled inputs.

Weakness: CWE-79

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-47115?

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

Package	Affected	Fixed in
`label-studio` PyPI	All versions	`1.9.2`
`label-studio` PyPI	All versions	`1.9.2`
`label-studio` PyPI	All versions	`1.9.2`

Products include Humansignal Label Studio.

How do I fix CVE-2023-47115?

Upgrade label-studio to 1.9.2 or later.

Escape output for the context it lands in and set a strict Content Security Policy. Upgrading the affected component is the real fix. More about Cross-site scripting.

Is CVE-2023-47115 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-47115 exists.

Public exploit code: 1 Nuclei template.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-q68h-xwq5-mm7x, PYSEC-2024-126.