// For flags

CVE-2023-24538

Backticks not treated as string delimiters in html/template

Severity Score

9.8
*CVSS v3.1

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

1
*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

-
*KEV

Decision

Track*
*SSVC
Descriptions

Templates do not properly consider backticks (`) as Javascript string delimiters, and do not escape them as expected. Backticks are used, since ES6, for JS template literals. If a template contains a Go template action within a Javascript template literal, the contents of the action can be used to terminate the literal, injecting arbitrary Javascript code into the Go template. As ES6 template literals are rather complex, and themselves can do string interpolation, the decision was made to simply disallow Go template actions from being used inside of them (e.g. "var a = {{.}}"), since there is no obviously safe way to allow this behavior. This takes the same approach as github.com/google/safehtml. With fix, Template.Parse returns an Error when it encounters templates like this, with an ErrorCode of value 12. This ErrorCode is currently unexported, but will be exported in the release of Go 1.21. Users who rely on the previous behavior can re-enable it using the GODEBUG flag jstmpllitinterp=1, with the caveat that backticks will now be escaped. This should be used with caution.

A flaw was found in Golang Go. This flaw allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system, caused by not properly considering backticks (`) as Javascript string delimiters. By sending a specially crafted request, an attacker execute arbitrary code on the system.

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform provides an enterprise framework for building, deploying and managing IT automation at scale. IT Managers can provide top-down guidelines on how automation is applied to individual teams, while automation developers retain the freedom to write tasks that leverage existing knowledge without the overhead. Ansible Automation Platform makes it possible for users across an organization to share, vet, and manage automation content by means of a simple, powerful, and agentless language. Issues addressed include a denial of service vulnerability.

*Credits: Sohom Datta, Manipal Institute of Technology
CVSS Scores
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete
* Common Vulnerability Scoring System
SSVC
  • Decision:Track*
Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Tech. Impact
Total
* Organization's Worst-case Scenario
Timeline
  • 2023-01-25 CVE Reserved
  • 2023-04-06 CVE Published
  • 2023-09-29 First Exploit
  • 2025-02-13 CVE Updated
  • 2025-05-04 EPSS Updated
  • ---------- Exploited in Wild
  • ---------- KEV Due Date
CWE
  • CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
CAPEC
Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions
Vendor Product Version Other Status
Vendor Product Version Other Status <-- --> Vendor Product Version Other Status
Golang
Search vendor "Golang"
 Go
Search vendor "Golang" for product "Go"
 < 1.19.8
Search vendor "Golang" for product "Go" and version " < 1.19.8"
-
Affected
Golang
Search vendor "Golang"
 Go
Search vendor "Golang" for product "Go"
 >= 1.20.0 < 1.20.3
Search vendor "Golang" for product "Go" and version " >= 1.20.0 < 1.20.3"
-
Affected