CVE-2023-25837
📋 TL;DR
A stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in Esri ArcGIS Enterprise Sites allows authenticated high-privileged attackers to inject malicious JavaScript into links. When victims click these crafted links, the attacker can execute arbitrary code in their browsers, potentially stealing session data or manipulating content. This affects ArcGIS Enterprise Sites versions 10.9 and below.
💻 Affected Systems
- Esri ArcGIS Enterprise Sites
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attacker gains full control of victim's session, steals sensitive data, manipulates trusted content, and disrupts application functionality, leading to complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Likely Case
Attacker steals session cookies or authentication tokens, leading to unauthorized access to sensitive GIS data and potential privilege escalation within the ArcGIS environment.
If Mitigated
With proper access controls limiting high-privileged accounts and input validation, impact is limited to low-privileged users with minimal sensitive data access.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated high-privileged access, but once obtained, creating malicious links is straightforward. No public exploit code has been identified.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Apply security patch for ArcGIS Enterprise Sites
Vendor Advisory: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/trust-arcgis/administration/portal-for-arcgis-enterprise-sites-security-patch-is-now-available/
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download the security patch from Esri's support site. 2. Apply the patch following Esri's deployment documentation. 3. Restart ArcGIS Enterprise Sites services. 4. Verify the patch was successfully applied.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict High-Privileged Access
allLimit the number of users with administrative or high-privileged access to ArcGIS Enterprise Sites to reduce attack surface.
Implement Content Security Policy
allDeploy a strict Content Security Policy (CSP) to mitigate XSS impact by restricting script execution sources.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict access controls to limit high-privileged accounts and monitor their activity
- Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block XSS payloads in user inputs
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check ArcGIS Enterprise Sites version in administration console. If version is 10.9 or below, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Check version in ArcGIS Enterprise Sites administration interface or configuration filesVerify Fix Applied:
Verify patch installation through administration console and test that user inputs are properly sanitized against XSS payloads.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual administrative account activity
- Multiple failed login attempts followed by successful login
- Suspicious URL parameters containing script tags or JavaScript
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing malicious script payloads in parameters
- Unusual outbound connections from ArcGIS servers
SIEM Query:
source="arcgis_logs" AND (event_type="admin_activity" OR message="*script*" OR message="*javascript*")