CVE-2021-32768
MEDIUMCVE-2021-32768 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in typo3/cms-core. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2021-32768 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Cross-Site Scripting via Rich-Text Content
Real-World Exposure
typo3/cms-core🐘typo3/cms-core🐘typo3/cms-core🐘typo3/cms-core🐘typo3/cms-core🐘typo3/cms🐘typo3/cms🐘typo3/cms+2 moreReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
TYPO3 is an open source PHP based web content management system released under the GNU GPL. In affected versions failing to properly parse, sanitize and encode malicious rich-text content, the content rendering process in the website frontend is vulnerable to cross-site scripting. Corresponding rendering instructions via TypoScript functionality HTMLparser does not consider all potentially malicious HTML tag & attribute combinations per default. In default scenarios, a valid backend user account is needed to exploit this vulnerability. In case custom plugins used in the website frontend accept and reflect rich-text content submitted by users, no authentication is required. Update to TYPO3 versions 7.6.53 ELTS, 8.7.42 ELTS, 9.5.29, 10.4.19, 11.3.2 that fix the problem described.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | typo3/cms-core | ≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.6.53 | 7.6.53 |
| 🐘Packagist | typo3/cms-core | ≥ 8.0.0&&< 8.7.42 | 8.7.42 |
| 🐘Packagist | typo3/cms-core | ≥ 10.0.0&&< 10.4.19 | 10.4.19 |
| 🐘Packagist | typo3/cms-core | ≥ 11.0.0&&< 11.3.2 | 11.3.2 |
| 🐘Packagist | typo3/cms-core | ≥ 9.0.0&&< 9.5.29 | 9.5.29 |
| 🐘Packagist | typo3/cms | ≥ 10.0.0&&< 10.4.19 | 10.4.19 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for typo3/cms-core. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update typo3/cms-core to 7.6.53 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-32768 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2021-32768 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2021-32768. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-32768 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2021-32768 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.