Unauthenticated access-control bypass via double-slash URLs
Published Oct 17, 2023 · Updated Jun 12, 2025
URL normalization bypass in dotCMS 5.3.8, 21.06, 22.03, and 23.01 allows remote attackers to evade access controls. NormalizationFilter leaves double slashes intact because its default invalid-character list omits //, so protected paths evade canonical matching. No authentication is required; the demonstrated result is access to an administrative JSP that the equivalent normalized request rejects.
Summary
What happened
URL normalization bypass in dotCMS 5.3.8, 21.06, 22.03, and 23.01 allows remote attackers to evade access controls. NormalizationFilter leaves double slashes intact because its default invalid-character list omits //, so protected paths evade canonical matching. No authentication is required; the demonstrated result is access to an administrative JSP that the equivalent normalized request rejects.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-3042
- Published
- Oct 17, 2023
- Updated
- Jun 12, 2025
- Vendor
- dotCMS
- Product
- dotCMS
- Classifications
- CWE-79, CAPEC-247, T1190
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 17, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jun 12, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=21.06
- Affected versionversion=22.03
- Affected versionversion=23.01
- Affected versionversion=5.3.8
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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