CVE-2023-33185 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.6) CWE-347 vulnerability in django-ses. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for django-ses — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Incorrect signature verification in django-ses
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-2023-33185.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
django-sesReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Django-SES is a drop-in mail backend for Django. The django_ses library implements a mail backend for Django using AWS Simple Email Service. The library exports the SESEventWebhookView class intended to receive signed requests from AWS to handle email bounces, subscriptions, etc. These requests are signed by AWS and are verified by django_ses, however the verification of this signature was found to be flawed as it allowed users to specify arbitrary public certificates. This issue was patched in version 3.5.0.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | django-ses | all versions | 3.5.0pip install --upgrade 'django-ses==3.5.0' |
Affected Products
django-sesdjango-ses_projectResearch 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 django-ses, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update django-ses to 3.5.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-33185 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-33185 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.