CVE-2023-4709VulnerabilityPublished 1 Sep 2023Updated 27 May 2025

CVE-2023-4709: TOTVS RM · Cross Site Scripting

Affects TOTVS RMSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 2.3 Low.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

2.3Low

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 33% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: High
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Passive
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None
Vulnerable system integrity: Low
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed “remotely exploitable” and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: High: The successful attack depends on the evasion or circumvention of security-enhancing techniques in place that would otherwise hinder the attack. These include: Evasion of exploit mitigation techniques, for example, circumvention of address space randomization (ASLR) or data execution prevention (DEP) must be performed for the attack to be successful; Obtaining target-specific secrets. The attacker must gather some target-specific secret before the attack can be successful. A secret is any piece of information that cannot be obtained through any amount of reconnaissance. To obtain the secret the attacker must perform additional attacks or break otherwise secure measures (e.g. knowledge of a secret key may be needed to break a crypto channel). This operation must be performed for each attacked target.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Passive: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires limited interaction by the targeted user with the vulnerable system and the attacker’s payload. These interactions would be considered involuntary and do not require that the user actively subvert protections built into the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact to the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 1 Sep 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
TOTVS RM	Affected =12.1	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

European organizations should audit their TOTVS RM 12.1 deployments to verify if VIEWSTATE is enabled and whether it is encrypted and validated. Specifically, they should: 1) Ensure that the web.config file includes <pages validateRequest="true" viewStateEncryptionMode="Always" /> to enforce request validation and VIEWSTATE encryption. 2) Disable VIEWSTATE if it is not required by the application functionality. 3) Apply strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to reduce the impact of potential XSS attacks. 4) Conduct regular security testing and code reviews focusing on input validation and output encoding. 5) Monitor web application logs for suspicious activity related to VIEWSTATE manipulation. 6) Engage with TOTVS support or security advisories for any patches or updates addressing this issue. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on configuration auditing, encryption enforcement, and proactive monitoring tailored to this vulnerability.

Description

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in TOTVS RM 12.1. Affected is an unknown function of the file Login.aspx of the component Portal. The manipulation of the argument VIEWSTATE leads to cross site scripting. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The complexity of an attack is rather high. The exploitability is told to be difficult. It is possible to mitigate the problem by applying the configuration setting <pages validateRequest="true" [...] viewStateEncryptionMode="Always" />. It is recommended to change the configuration settings. The vendor was initially contacted early about this disclosure but did not respond in any way. In a later statement he explains, that "the behavior described [...] is related to specific configurations that are not part of the default application setup. In standard production environments, the relevant feature (VIEWSTATE) is disabled by default, which effectively mitigates the risk of exploitation."

Impact

For European organizations using TOTVS RM 12.1 with non-default configurations that enable VIEWSTATE without proper encryption or validation, this vulnerability could allow attackers to perform XSS attacks remotely. Although the severity is low, successful exploitation could compromise user sessions, steal credentials, or perform unauthorized actions within the application, impacting confidentiality and integrity. Given that TOTVS RM is an ERP solution widely used in Latin America and some European markets, organizations relying on customized configurations are at risk. The impact is mitigated if default settings are maintained. However, organizations with legacy or customized deployments should be cautious, as XSS vulnerabilities can be leveraged as initial footholds for more complex attacks or social engineering campaigns targeting employees.

Summary

CVE-2023-4709 is a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability identified in TOTVS RM version 12.1, specifically within the Portal component's Login.aspx page. The vulnerability arises from improper handling of the VIEWSTATE argument, which can be manipulated to inject malicious scripts. VIEWSTATE is an ASP.NET mechanism used to preserve page and control values between postbacks, and if not properly secured, it can be exploited for XSS attacks. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute scripts in the context of the affected web application, potentially leading to session hijacking, defacement, or redirection to malicious sites. However, the attack complexity is high, and exploitability is considered difficult, as it requires specific configurations where VIEWSTATE is enabled and not properly encrypted or validated. The vendor has stated that in default production environments, VIEWSTATE is disabled, mitigating the risk. Mitigation involves configuring the application to enable request validation and enforce VIEWSTATE encryption by setting <pages validateRequest="true" viewStateEncryptionMode="Always" /> in the web.config file. No known exploits are reported in the wild, and the CVSS 4.0 score is low (2.3), reflecting limited impact and difficulty of exploitation.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Jul 2025, 18:42 UTC

Technical details

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