VulnerabilityPublished 9 Dec 2023Updated 27 May 2025

CVE-2023-6646: linkding · Cross-site Scripting

Affects linkdingSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 3.5 Low · fixed in 1.23.1 : update linkding when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

3.5Low

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

EPSS: 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 50% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 1.23.1

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
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: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
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: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within 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 9 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
GitHubsissbruecker/linkding`pkg:github/sissbruecker/linkding`Other threats	Affected =1.23.0	Fixed in–

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AI-suggested

European organizations should immediately upgrade linkding installations from version 1.23.0 to 1.23.1 or later to remediate the vulnerability. In addition to patching, organizations should implement strict input validation and output encoding practices to prevent XSS in all web applications. Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts and reduce the impact of potential XSS attacks. Conduct user awareness training to recognize phishing attempts that may leverage this vulnerability. Regularly audit and monitor web application logs for suspicious activities related to the 'q' parameter or unusual user interactions. If upgrading is delayed, consider deploying web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules to detect and block XSS payloads targeting the vulnerable parameter. Finally, integrate automated security testing in the development lifecycle to catch similar issues early.

Description

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in linkding 1.23.0. Affected is an unknown function. The manipulation of the argument q leads to cross site scripting. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. Upgrading to version 1.23.1 is able to address this issue. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. VDB-247338 is the identifier assigned to this vulnerability. NOTE: The vendor was contacted early, responded in a very professional manner and immediately released a fixed version of the affected product.

Impact

For European organizations using linkding 1.23.0, this vulnerability could lead to targeted phishing or session hijacking attacks via malicious script execution in users' browsers. While the direct impact on confidentiality and availability is minimal, the integrity of user interactions and data displayed by the application can be compromised. This could result in unauthorized actions performed on behalf of users or the theft of session tokens if combined with other vulnerabilities. Organizations relying on linkding for internal or external bookmark management may face reputational damage or operational disruptions if attackers exploit this flaw to deliver malware or redirect users to malicious sites. The risk is heightened in environments where users have elevated privileges or access sensitive information through the application. However, since exploitation requires user interaction and the vulnerability is patched in version 1.23.1, timely updates can effectively mitigate the risk.

Summary

CVE-2023-6646 is a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability identified in linkding version 1.23.0, a web-based bookmarking service. The vulnerability arises from improper sanitization of the 'q' parameter, which can be manipulated by an attacker to inject malicious scripts. This flaw allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of the victim's browser when they interact with a crafted link or input. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79, indicating it is a classic reflected XSS issue. Exploitation requires the victim to perform some user interaction, such as clicking a malicious link or visiting a specially crafted page. The vulnerability does not require elevated privileges but does require user interaction, and it impacts the integrity of the application by potentially allowing script injection, though it does not affect confidentiality or availability directly. The vendor responded promptly and released version 1.23.1 to address this issue. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 3.5, reflecting a low severity due to the limited impact and exploitation conditions. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild. This vulnerability highlights the importance of input validation and output encoding in web applications to prevent injection attacks that can compromise user trust and session integrity.

CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #1OWASP Top 10 A05:2025: Injection (opens in a new tab)
The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.
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.
Implementation · Architecture and Design
Understand the context in which your data will be used and the encoding that will be expected. This is especially important when transmitting data between different components, or when generating outputs that can contain multiple encodings at the same time, such as web pages or multi-part mail messages.
Architecture and Design · Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction
Understand all the potential areas where untrusted inputs can enter your software: parameters or arguments, cookies, anything read from the network, environment variables, reverse DNS lookups, query results, request headers, URL components, e-mail, files, filenames, databases, and any external systems that provide…
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Cross Site Scripting Prevention (opens in a new tab)
DOM based XSS Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Injection Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
XSS Using MIME Type Mismatch (opens in a new tab)
DOM-Based XSS (opens in a new tab)
Reflected XSS (opens in a new tab)
Stored XSS (opens in a new tab)
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) (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 6 Jul 2025, 03:56 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-79

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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