CVE-2023-5917 is a low-severity (CVSS 2.4) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in phpbb/phpbb. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2023-5917 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
phpBB Smiley Pack acp_icons.php main cross site scripting
Real-World Exposure
phpbb/phpbbReal-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
A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in phpBB up to 3.3.10. This issue affects the function main of the file phpBB/includes/acp/acp_icons.php of the component Smiley Pack Handler. The manipulation of the argument pak leads to cross site scripting. The attack may be initiated remotely. Upgrading to version 3.3.11 is able to address this issue. The patch is named ccf6e6c255d38692d72fcb613b113e6eaa240aac. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. The associated identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-244307.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | phpbb/phpbb | all versions | 3.3.11 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for phpbb/phpbb. 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 phpbb/phpbb to 3.3.11 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-5917 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-2023-5917 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-2023-5917. 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-2023-5917 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2023-5917 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.