CVE-2023-53972VulnerabilityPublished 22 Dec 2025Updated 30 Dec 2025

CVE-2023-53972: luiswang WebTareas · SQL Injection

Affects luiswang WebTareasSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.3 Critical.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

9.3Critical

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

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 37% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High
Vulnerable system integrity: High
Vulnerable system availability: Low
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: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
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: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High: There is a total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all information within the Vulnerable System being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact. For example, an attacker steals the administrator's password, or private encryption keys of a web server.
Vulnerable system integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the vulnerable system. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the Vulnerable System are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to 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 22 Dec 2025
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
luiswang WebTareas	Affected =2.4	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

1. Immediate mitigation should include disabling or restricting access to WebTareas 2.4 instances until patches are available. 2. Implement web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block SQL injection attempts targeting the webTareasSID cookie parameter. 3. Conduct thorough input validation and sanitization on all cookie and user-supplied parameters, especially webTareasSID, to neutralize special SQL characters. 4. Monitor application logs for unusual database errors or timing anomalies indicative of SQL injection attempts. 5. Segregate WebTareas servers within network segments with strict access controls to limit lateral movement if compromised. 6. Engage with the vendor or community for patches or updates addressing this vulnerability and apply them promptly once available. 7. Perform regular security assessments and penetration testing focusing on injection flaws. 8. Educate IT staff on recognizing and responding to SQL injection attacks. 9. Consider deploying database activity monitoring tools to detect suspicious queries. 10. Backup critical data regularly and verify restoration processes to minimize impact of potential data manipulation.

Description

WebTareas 2.4 contains a SQL injection vulnerability in the webTareasSID cookie parameter that allows unauthenticated attackers to manipulate database queries. Attackers can exploit error-based and time-based blind SQL injection techniques to extract database information and potentially access sensitive system data.

Impact

For European organizations, exploitation of CVE-2023-53972 could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data stored in WebTareas databases, including potentially confidential task management information. This could result in data breaches, loss of intellectual property, and exposure of internal workflows. Integrity of data may also be compromised, allowing attackers to alter task records or system configurations, disrupting business operations. The vulnerability’s unauthenticated nature increases risk as attackers can exploit it remotely without credentials. This could facilitate lateral movement within networks if WebTareas is integrated with other internal systems. Organizations in sectors such as government, finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure that rely on WebTareas for task or project management are particularly vulnerable. The reputational damage and regulatory consequences under GDPR for data breaches could be significant. The lack of known exploits currently provides a window for proactive defense, but the critical CVSS score underscores the potential for severe impact if exploited.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 31 Dec 2025, 00:04 UTC

Technical details

References

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