VulnerabilityPublished 10 Jan 2024Updated 3 Jun 2025

CVE-2023-49394: Zentao · Open Redirect

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.1 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.1Medium

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 31% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: Low
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: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
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 on 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 10 Jan 2024
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
GitHubzentao/zentao`pkg:github/zentao/zentao`Other threats	Affected <=4.1.3	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Immediate mitigation includes educating users about the risks of clicking on suspicious links, especially those purporting to come from Zentao or related project management communications.
Implement URL filtering and web proxy solutions to detect and block known malicious domains and suspicious redirect patterns.
Monitor logs for unusual redirect activity or access patterns that could indicate exploitation attempts.
If possible, restrict the use of Zentao versions 4.1.3 and earlier by upgrading to a newer, patched version once available.
Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the domains to which redirection is allowed, reducing the risk of open redirects.
Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) on Zentao and related systems to reduce the impact of credential theft.
Network segmentation can limit the potential lateral movement if an attacker gains access through this vector.
Engage with the Zentao vendor or community to obtain updates or patches and apply them promptly when released.

Description

Zentao versions 4.1.3 and before has a URL redirect vulnerability, which prevents the system from functioning properly.

Impact

For European organizations using Zentao 4.1.3 or earlier, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily through social engineering and phishing attacks. Attackers can exploit the open redirect to trick employees into visiting malicious websites that could harvest credentials or deliver malware payloads. This can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive project management data, intellectual property, or internal communications. The medium severity and requirement for user interaction mean that the threat is significant but not immediately exploitable without user involvement. However, given the collaborative nature of project management tools, a successful attack could facilitate lateral movement within networks or compromise other integrated systems. The vulnerability could also damage organizational reputation if exploited in targeted phishing campaigns. European organizations with compliance obligations under GDPR must be cautious, as data breaches resulting from such attacks could lead to regulatory penalties.

Summary

CVE-2023-49394 is a URL redirection vulnerability affecting Zentao versions 4.1.3 and earlier. Zentao is a project management software widely used for agile development and bug tracking. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-601 (Open Redirect), which occurs when an application accepts untrusted input that could cause the web application to redirect the request to a URL contained within untrusted input. This vulnerability allows an attacker to craft a malicious URL that appears to be from a trusted source but redirects users to an arbitrary external site. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.1 (medium severity), with the vector indicating network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), user interaction required (UI:R), and scope changed (S:C). The impact affects confidentiality and integrity at a low level, with no impact on availability. The scope change means the vulnerability can affect resources beyond the initially vulnerable component. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability can be leveraged in phishing campaigns or social engineering attacks to redirect users to malicious sites, potentially leading to credential theft, malware installation, or further exploitation. The lack of available patches or vendor information suggests that users must rely on mitigation strategies until an official fix is released.

CWE-601URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: LowOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The web application accepts a user-controlled input that specifies a link to an external site, and uses that link in a redirect.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design
Use an intermediate disclaimer page that provides the user with a clear warning that they are leaving the current site. Implement a long timeout before the redirect occurs, or force the user to click on the link. Be careful to avoid XSS problems (CWE-79) when generating the disclaimer page.
Architecture and Design · Enforcement by Conversion
When the set of acceptable objects, such as filenames or URLs, is limited or known, create a mapping from a set of fixed input values (such as numeric IDs) to the actual filenames or URLs, and reject all other inputs.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.1.5 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Cross-Site Flashing (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Jul 2025, 09:41 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-601

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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