CVE-2023-22456
ViewVC XSS vulnerability in revision view changed paths
ViewVC, a browser interface for CVS and Subversion version control repositories, as a cross-site scripting vulnerability that affects versions prior to 1.2.2 and 1.1.29. The impact of this vulnerability is mitigated by the need for an attacker to have commit privileges to a Subversion repository exposed by an otherwise trusted ViewVC instance. The attack vector involves files with unsafe names (names that, when embedded into an HTML stream, would cause the browser to run unwanted code), which themselves can be challenging to create. Users should update to at least version 1.2.2 (if they are using a 1.2.x version of ViewVC) or 1.1.29 (if they are using a 1.1.x version).
ViewVC 1.0.x is no longer supported, so users of that release lineage should implement a workaround. Users can edit their ViewVC EZT view templates to manually HTML-escape changed paths during rendering. Locate in your template set's revision.ezt file references to those changed paths, and wrap them with [format "html"] and [end]. For most users, that means that references to [changes.path] will become [format "html"][changes.path][end]. (This workaround should be reverted after upgrading to a patched version of ViewVC, else changed path names will be doubly escaped.)
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
6.1
ViewVC XSS vulnerability in revision view changed paths
ViewVC, a browser interface for CVS and Subversion version control repositories, as a cross-site scripting vulnerability that affects versions prior to 1.2.2 and 1.1.29. The impact of this vulnerability is mitigated by the need for an attacker to have commit privileges to a Subversion repository exposed by an otherwise trusted ViewVC instance. The attack vector involves files with unsafe names (names that, when embedded into an HTML stream, would cause the browser to run unwanted code), which themselves can be challenging to create. Users should update to at least version 1.2.2 (if they are using a 1.2.x version of ViewVC) or 1.1.29 (if they are using a 1.1.x version).
ViewVC 1.0.x is no longer supported, so users of that release lineage should implement a workaround. Users can edit their ViewVC EZT view templates to manually HTML-escape changed paths during rendering. Locate in your template set's revision.ezt file references to those changed paths, and wrap them with [format "html"] and [end]. For most users, that means that references to [changes.path] will become [format "html"][changes.path][end]. (This workaround should be reverted after upgrading to a patched version of ViewVC, else changed path names will be doubly escaped.)
- Record
CVE-2023-22456- CVSS 3.1
- 6.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-26618
6.1
ViewVC, a browser interface for CVS and Subversion version control repositories, as a cross-site scripting vulnerability that affects versions prior to 1.2.2 and 1.1.29. The impact of this vulnerability is mitigated by the need for an attacker to have commit privileges to a Subversion repository exposed by an otherwise trusted ViewVC instance. The attack vector involves files with unsafe names (names that, when embedded into an HTML stream, would cause the browser to run unwanted code), which themselves can be challenging to create. Users should update to at least version 1.2.2 (if they are using a 1.2.x version of ViewVC) or 1.1.29 (if they are using a 1.1.x version).
ViewVC 1.0.x is no longer supported, so users of that release lineage should implement a workaround. Users can edit their ViewVC EZT view templates to manually HTML-escape changed paths during rendering. Locate in your template set's revision.ezt file references to those changed paths, and wrap them with [format "html"] and [end]. For most users, that means that references to [changes.path] will become [format "html"][changes.path][end]. (This workaround should be reverted after upgrading to a patched version of ViewVC, else changed path names will be doubly escaped.)
- Record
EUVD-2023-26618- CVSS 3.1
- 6.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
6.1
ViewVC, a browser interface for CVS and Subversion version control repositories, as a cross-site scripting vulnerability that affects versions prior to 1.2.2 and 1.1.29. The impact of this vulnerability is mitigated by the need for an attacker to have commit privileges to a Subversion repository exposed by an otherwise trusted ViewVC instance. The attack vector involves files with unsafe names (names that, when embedded into an HTML stream, would cause the browser to run unwanted code), which themselves can be challenging to create. Users should update to at least version 1.2.2 (if they are using a 1.2.x version of ViewVC) or 1.1.29 (if they are using a 1.1.x version).
ViewVC 1.0.x is no longer supported, so users of that release lineage should implement a workaround. Users can edit their ViewVC EZT view templates to manually HTML-escape changed paths during rendering. Locate in your template set's revision.ezt file references to those changed paths, and wrap them with [format "html"] and [end]. For most users, that means that references to [changes.path] will become [format "html"][changes.path][end]. (This workaround should be reverted after upgrading to a patched version of ViewVC, else changed path names will be doubly escaped.)
- Record
CVE-2023-22456- CVSS 3.1
- 6.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
6.1
ViewVC XSS vulnerability in revision view changed paths
ViewVC, a browser interface for CVS and Subversion version control repositories, as a cross-site scripting vulnerability that affects versions prior to 1.2.2 and 1.1.29. The impact of this vulnerability is mitigated by the need for an attacker to have commit privileges to a Subversion repository exposed by an otherwise trusted ViewVC instance. The attack vector involves files with unsafe names (names that, when embedded into an HTML stream, would cause the browser to run unwanted code), which themselves can be challenging to create. Users should update to at least version 1.2.2 (if they are using a 1.2.x version of ViewVC) or 1.1.29 (if they are using a 1.1.x version).
ViewVC 1.0.x is no longer supported, so users of that release lineage should implement a workaround. Users can edit their ViewVC EZT view templates to manually HTML-escape changed paths during rendering. Locate in your template set's revision.ezt file references to those changed paths, and wrap them with [format "html"] and [end]. For most users, that means that references to [changes.path] will become [format "html"][changes.path][end]. (This workaround should be reverted after upgrading to a patched version of ViewVC, else changed path names will be doubly escaped.)
- Record
CVE-2023-22456- CVSS 3.1
- 6.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2023-22456
6.1
ViewVC, a browser interface for CVS and Subversion version control repositories, as a cross-site scripting vulnerability that affects versions prior to 1.2.2 and 1.1.29. The impact of this vulnerability is mitigated by the need for an attacker to have commit privileges to a Subversion repository exposed by an otherwise trusted ViewVC instance. The attack vector involves files with unsafe names (names that, when embedded into an HTML stream, would cause the browser to run unwanted code), which themselves can be challenging to create. Users should update to at least version 1.2.2 (if they are using a 1.2.x version of ViewVC) or 1.1.29 (if they are using a 1.1.x version). ViewVC 1.0.x is no longer supported, so users of that release lineage should implement a workaround. Users can edit their ViewVC EZT view templates to manually HTML-escape changed paths during rendering. Locate in your template set's revision.ezt file references to those changed paths, and wrap them with [format "html"] and [end]. For most users, that means that references to [changes.path] will become [format "html"][changes.path][end]. (This workaround should be reverted after upgrading to a patched version of ViewVC, else changed path names will be doubly escaped.)
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2023-22456- CVSS 3.1
- 6.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2023-0019 No score
Updated viewvc packages fix security vulnerability
ViewVC is vulnerable to cross-site scripting. The impact of these vulnerabilities is mitigated by the need for an attacker to have commit privileges to a Subversion repository exposed by an otherwise trusted ViewVC instance. The attack vector involves files with unsafe names (names that, when embedded into an HTML stream, would cause the browser to run unwanted code), which themselves can be challenging to create. (CVE-2023-22456, CVE-2023-22464)
- Record
MGASA-2023-0019- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
viewvcDebian:10 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs |
before 1.1.26-1+deb10u1, plus listed versions 1.1.26-1 |
1.1.26-1+deb10u1 |
viewvcMageia:8 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs |
before 1.3.0-0.dev20200516.1.1.mga8 | 1.3.0-0.dev20200516.1.1.mga8 |
viewvcUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.1.22-11.1.22-1+deb8u1build0.16.04.1 |
None known |
viewvcUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.1.26-1 |
None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, facts | ||
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-22456 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.1) in Viewvc, published January 3, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.75%, the 55th percentile. No source names a fixed version.
References
github.com/viewvc/viewvc/security/advisories/GHSA-j4mx-f97j-gc5g
github.com/viewvc/viewvc/issues/311
github.com/viewvc/viewvc/releases/tag/1.1.29
github.com/viewvc/viewvc/releases/tag/1.2.2
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/22xxx/CVE-2023-22456.json
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-22456