CVE-2023-44382 — system
CRITICALCVE-2023-44382 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.1) Code Injection vulnerability in october/system. A fix is available for october/system — see the affected versions and patch details below.
October CMS safe mode bypass using Twig sandbox escape
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
october/systemReal-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
Impact
An authenticated backend user with the editor.cms_pages, editor.cms_layouts, or editor.cms_partials permissions who would normally not be permitted to provide PHP code to be executed by the CMS due to cms.safe_mode being enabled can write specific Twig code to escape the Twig sandbox and execute arbitrary PHP.
This is not a problem for anyone who trusts their users with those permissions to usually write and manage PHP within the CMS by not having cms.safe_mode enabled. Still, it would be a problem for anyone relying on cms.safe_mode to ensure that users with those permissions in production do not have access to write and execute arbitrary PHP.
Patches
This issue has been patched in v3.4.15.
Workarounds
As a workaround, remove the specified permissions from untrusted users.
References
Credits to:
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Email us at [email protected]
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | october/system | ≥ 3.0.0&&< 3.4.15 | 3.4.15composer require october/system:^3.4.15 |
Affected Products
octoberoctobercmsDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for october/system, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update october/system to 3.4.15 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-44382 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-44382 in your dependencies?
Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.