CVE-2023-0609 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) CWE-285 vulnerability in wallabag/wallabag. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for wallabag/wallabag — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Improper Authorization in wallabag/wallabag
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-0609.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2023-0609 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,636 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
wallabag/wallabagReal-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
Description
The export feature lets a user export a single entry or a set of entries in a given format (e.g. PDF, MOBI, TXT).
For example, https://yourinstance.wallabag.org/export/45.pdf will export the entry with id 45 in PDF format.
Since wallabag 2.0.0-alpha.1, this feature is vulnerable to an insecure direct object reference attack. A logged user can export any single entry without ownership validation.
This is due to a lack of access validation in the downloadEntryAction method.
You should immediately patch your instance to version 2.5.3 or higher if you have more than one user and/or having open registration.
Resolution
A user check is now done in the vulnerable method before sending the exported entry.
The Entry retrieval through a ParamConverter has also been replaced with a call to the EntryRepository in order to prevent any information disclosure through response discrepancy.
Workaround
If you are unable to update to the latest version or if you want to temporarily limit risk of exploitation, you may consider blocking requests to the endpoint /export/*.
E.g. with nginx:
location /export {
deny all;
}
Credits
We would like to thank @bAuh0lz for reporting this issue through huntr.dev.
Reference: https://www.huntr.dev/bounties/3adef66f-fc86-4e6d-a540-2ffa59342ff0/
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | wallabag/wallabag | ≥ 2.0.0-alpha.1&&< 2.5.3 | 2.5.3composer require wallabag/wallabag:^2.5.3 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for wallabag/wallabag, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update wallabag/wallabag to 2.5.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-0609 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2023-0609 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-0609. 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-2023-0609 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-0609 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.