CVE-2023-38490: Kirby is a content management system. (CVSS 6.8)

Kirby is a content management system.

Kirby is a content management system. A vulnerability in versions prior to 3.5.8.3, 3.6.6.3, 3.7.5.2, 3.8.4.1, and 3.9.6 only affects Kirby sites that use the `Xml` data handler (e.g. `Data::decode($string, 'xml')`) or the `Xml::parse()` method in site or plugin code. The Kirby core does not use any of the affected methods. XML External Entities (XXE) is a little used feature in the XML markup language that allows to include data from external files in an XML structure. If the name of the external file can be controlled by an attacker, this becomes a vulnerability that can be abused for various system impacts like the disclosure of internal or confidential data that is stored on the server (arbitrary file disclosure) or to perform network requests on behalf of the server (server-side request forgery, SSRF). Kirby's `Xml::parse()` method used PHP's `LIBXML_NOENT` constant, which enabled the processing of XML external entities during the parsing operation. The `Xml::parse()` method is used in the `Xml` data handler (e.g. `Data::decode($string, 'xml')`). Both the vulnerable method and the data handler are not used in the Kirby core. However they may be used in site or plugin code, e

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by GitHub

What it means for a small business

If your business uses kirby, install the vendor's update. If you're not sure whether you use it, ask whoever manages your computers.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 1.7%, higher than 77% of CVEs. That’s above average: worth scheduling this week. Scored October 28, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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