VulnerabilityPublished 4 Dec 2023Updated 3 Jun 2025

CVE-2023-48863: SEMCMS · SQL Injection

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 16:39 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

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

EPSS: 0.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 58% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, 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: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 Dec 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 26 Oct 2026.

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 or the CVSS exploit maturity 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
n/a n/a	Affected =3.9	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Since no official patches or vendor advisories are currently available, European organizations should implement the following specific mitigations: 1) Conduct a thorough audit of all SEMCMS 3.9 instances to identify exposed endpoints that accept user input potentially vulnerable to SQL Injection. 2) Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with SQL Injection detection and prevention rules tailored to block malicious payloads targeting SEMCMS. 3) Implement strict input validation and sanitization at the application layer, using parameterized queries or prepared statements wherever possible to prevent injection. 4) Restrict database user permissions to the minimum necessary, limiting the scope of data accessible in case of exploitation. 5) Monitor database query logs and application logs for anomalous or suspicious queries indicative of injection attempts. 6) Consider isolating SEMCMS instances in segmented network zones to reduce lateral movement risk. 7) Prepare incident response plans specifically for data breach scenarios involving SQL Injection. 8) Stay alert for vendor updates or community patches and apply them immediately upon release. These measures go beyond generic advice by focusing on compensating controls and proactive detection in the absence of a patch.

Description

SEMCMS 3.9 is vulnerable to SQL Injection. Due to the lack of security checks on the input of the application, the attacker uses the existing application to inject malicious SQL commands into the background database engine for execution, and sends some attack codes as commands or query statements to the interpreter. These malicious data can deceive the interpreter, so as to execute unplanned commands or unauthorized access to data.

Impact

For European organizations using SEMCMS 3.9, this vulnerability poses a serious risk to the confidentiality of sensitive data. Unauthorized data disclosure could lead to violations of GDPR and other data protection regulations, resulting in legal penalties and reputational damage. The ability to extract confidential information without authentication increases the threat level, especially for organizations handling personal data, financial information, or intellectual property. Although the vulnerability does not directly impact data integrity or availability, the exposure of sensitive data can facilitate further attacks such as identity theft, fraud, or targeted phishing campaigns. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently provides a limited window for proactive defense, but the ease of exploitation and the high confidentiality impact necessitate immediate attention. European organizations in sectors such as government, finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure that rely on SEMCMS for content management or internal applications are particularly at risk.

Summary

CVE-2023-48863 is a high-severity SQL Injection vulnerability affecting SEMCMS version 3.9. The vulnerability arises from insufficient input validation and sanitization in the application, allowing an attacker to inject malicious SQL commands directly into the backend database engine. This injection enables the attacker to manipulate the database queries executed by the application, potentially bypassing intended logic and security controls. The vulnerability does not require any authentication or user interaction, making it remotely exploitable over the network. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N) indicates that the attack can be performed remotely with low attack complexity, no privileges, and no user interaction, resulting in a high impact on confidentiality but no impact on integrity or availability. Specifically, the attacker can extract sensitive data from the database without authorization, which could include user credentials, personal data, or other confidential information stored by SEMCMS. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the nature of SQL Injection vulnerabilities and their ease of exploitation make this a significant risk. The lack of available patches or vendor information increases the urgency for organizations using SEMCMS 3.9 to implement mitigations promptly. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-89, a well-known and commonly exploited weakness in web applications that interact with databases.

CWE-89Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #2OWASP Top 10 A05:2025: Injection (opens in a new tab)
The product constructs all or part of an SQL command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended SQL command when it is sent to a downstream component. Without sufficient removal or quoting of SQL syntax in user-controllable inputs, the generated SQL query can cause those inputs to be interpreted as SQL instead of ordinary user data.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Architecture and Design · Parameterization
If available, use structured mechanisms that automatically enforce the separation between data and code. These mechanisms may be able to provide the relevant quoting, encoding, and validation automatically, instead of relying on the developer to provide this capability at every point where output is generated.
Architecture and Design · Operation · Environment Hardening
Run your code using the lowest privileges that are required to accomplish the necessary tasks. If possible, create isolated accounts with limited privileges that are only used for a single task. That way, a successful attack will not immediately give the attacker access to the rest of the software or its environment.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Query Parameterization (opens in a new tab)
Unvalidated Redirects and Forwards (opens in a new tab)
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
XML External Entity Prevention (opens in a new tab)
File Upload (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.3.5 (opens in a new tab)
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Command Line Execution through SQL Injection (opens in a new tab)
Object Relational Mapping Injection (opens in a new tab)
SQL Injection through SOAP Parameter Tampering (opens in a new tab)
Expanding Control over the Operating System from the Database (opens in a new tab)
SQL Injection (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Jul 2025, 18:13 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-89

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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