CVE-2023-48707 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5) CWE-312 vulnerability in codeigniter4/shield. A fix is available for codeigniter4/shield — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in codeigniter4/shield
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-2023-48707 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
codeigniter4/shieldReal-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
secretKey, an important key for HMAC SHA256 authentication, was stored in the database in raw form.
If a malicious person somehow had access to the data in the database, they could use the key and secretKey for HMAC SHA256 authentication to send requests impersonating that person.
Patches
Upgrade to Shield v1.0.0-beta.8 or later.
After upgrading, all existing secret keys must be encrypted. See https://github.com/codeigniter4/shield/blob/develop/UPGRADING.md for details.
Workarounds
None.
References
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue or discussion in codeigniter4/shield
- Email us at [email protected]
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | codeigniter4/shield | all versions | 1.0.0-beta.8composer require codeigniter4/shield:^1.0.0-beta.8 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for codeigniter4/shield, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update codeigniter4/shield to 1.0.0-beta.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-48707 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-2023-48707 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-48707. 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-2023-48707 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-48707 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.