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Fencer Vulns
medium 4.7

CVE-2023-28439 json

ckeditor4 plugins vulnerable to cross-site scripting caused by the editor instance destroying process

published 2023-03-22 3 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2023-32127

cvss
4.7
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.7%
EPSS 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 54%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

CKEditor4 is an open source what-you-see-is-what-you-get HTML editor. A cross-site scripting vulnerability has been discovered affecting Iframe Dialog and Media Embed packages. The vulnerability may trigger a JavaScript code after fulfilling special conditions: using one of the affected packages on a web page with missing proper Content Security Policy configuration; initializing the editor on an element and using an element other than `<textarea>` as a base; and destroying the editor instance. This vulnerability might affect a small percentage of integrators that depend on dynamic editor initialization/destroy mechanism.

A fix is available in CKEditor4 version 4.21.0. In some rare cases, a security fix may be considered a breaking change. Starting from version 4.21.0, the Iframe Dialog plugin applies the `sandbox` attribute by default, which restricts JavaScript code execution in the iframe element. To change this behavior, configure the `config.iframe_attributes` option. Also starting from version 4.21.0, the Media Embed plugin regenerates the entire content of the embed widget by default. To change this behavior, configure the `config.embed_keepOriginalContent` option. Those who choose to enable either of the more permissive options or who cannot upgrade to a patched version should properly configure Content Security Policy to avoid any potential security issues that may arise from embedding iframe elements on their web page.

Patch / fix

  • ckeditor ckeditor 4.21.0

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
2 y ago

Exploit prediction

0.73% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 54% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 4.7 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
NVD 3.1 6.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Affected products

  • ckeditor ckeditor4

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-79 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.