How severe is CVE-2023-4771?

CVE-2023-4771 has a CVSS score of 6.1/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-4771?

CVE-2023-4771 affects the following packages: ckeditor4 (npm). Ecosystems affected: npm.

How do I fix CVE-2023-4771?

Update ckeditor4 to 4.24.0-lts or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-4771 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-4771 in my npm dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for ckeditor4. 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.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-4771 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against CVE-2023-4771?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-4771 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2023-4771 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 2 known exploit references for CVE-2023-4771, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2023-4771?

CVE-2023-4771 is classified as Cross-site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2023-4771 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-4771 was published on November 16, 2023 and was last updated on April 10, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

📦 npm

CVE-2023-4771

MEDIUM

CVE-2023-4771 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in ckeditor4. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2023-4771 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.

CKEditor cross-site scripting vulnerability in AJAX sample

Also known asGHSA-wh5w-82f3-wrxh

Published

Nov 16, 2023

Updated

Apr 10, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

2 known

Blast Radius

1 pkg affected

Weekly download volume for affected packages — a proxy for how broadly this vulnerability is deployed.

ckeditor4npm

58Kdownloads / week

Description

A Cross-Site scripting vulnerability has been found in CKSource CKEditor affecting versions 4.15.1 and earlier. An attacker could send malicious javascript code through the /ckeditor/samples/old/ajax.html file and retrieve an authorized user's information.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦npm	`ckeditor4`	all versions	4.24.0-lts

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

A Cross-Site scripting vulnerability has been found in CKSource CKEditor…

github.comGithubJun 2024

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for ckeditor4. 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 ckeditor4 to 4.24.0-lts or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-4771 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-2023-4771 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-2023-4771. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2023-4771 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2023-4771 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works