CVE-2023-7038
MEDIUMCVE-2023-7038 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.3) Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in automad/automad. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2023-7038 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
automad User Creation cross-site request forgery
Blast Radius
automad/automadReal-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 was found in automad up to 1.10.9. It has been rated as problematic. This issue affects some unknown processing of the file /dashboard?controller=UserCollection::createUser of the component User Creation Handler. The manipulation leads to cross-site request forgery. The attack may be initiated remotely. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. The associated identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-248687. NOTE: The vendor was contacted early about this disclosure but did not respond in any way.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | automad/automad | all versions | 2.0.0-alpha.1 |
Research 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 automad/automad. 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 automad/automad to 2.0.0-alpha.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-7038 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-2023-7038 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-2023-7038. 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-2023-7038 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2023-7038 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.