CVE-2023-54408 in Frappe
Summary
by MITRE • 10/13/2026
Frappe before 13.52.0 and 14.x before 14.31.0 contains an HTML injection vulnerability caused by weak escaping of user-supplied content rendered in pages. Attackers can submit crafted HTML that bypasses the insufficient escaping and is rendered in the browsers of users who view it, enabling cross-site scripting.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/13/2026
The Frappe framework, a popular low-code platform used for building web applications, contains an HTML injection vulnerability affecting versions prior to 13.52.0 and version 14.x prior to 14.31.0. This security flaw stems from insufficient validation and sanitization of user-supplied content that is subsequently rendered directly into web pages without proper encoding. When the application processes input data, it fails to adequately escape special HTML characters, allowing malicious actors to inject arbitrary scripts or markup into the page context. This weakness represents a classic instance of Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), specifically categorized under CWE-79 in the Common Weakness Enumeration standard, which addresses improper neutralization of input during web page generation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for any organization relying on Frappe to host interactive applications where user-generated content or untrusted inputs are displayed back to other users. An attacker can craft a malicious payload containing JavaScript code and trick legitimate users into viewing the compromised page. Once executed within the victim's browser, the injected script operates with the same privileges as the trusted application, potentially allowing the theft of session cookies, authentication tokens, or sensitive user data stored in local storage. Furthermore, this capability enables attackers to perform actions on behalf of the victim, such as modifying account settings, initiating transactions, or spreading malware through further social engineering attacks facilitated by the compromised interface.
This vulnerability aligns with several tactics and techniques defined in the MITRE ATT&CK framework for enterprise security. It primarily falls under the Execution technique via Browser Scripting, where attackers leverage client-side scripts to execute commands within the user's environment. Additionally, it supports data exfiltration through Collection of User Data from a Web Application, as the injected script can harvest credentials and other sensitive information. The lack of robust output encoding also relates to Improper Input Validation, highlighting gaps in the application’s defense-in-depth strategy against injection-based attacks.
To mitigate this risk, organizations must upgrade their Frappe installations immediately to version 13.52.0 or later for the v13 branch, and version 14.31.0 or later for the v14 branch, as these releases include patches that enforce stricter escaping rules on user-supplied content. In addition to upgrading, developers should implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the sources from which scripts can be loaded and executed, thereby reducing the impact of any successful XSS attempt even if input sanitization fails. It is also critical to adopt a principle of least privilege for web applications by ensuring that sensitive operations require explicit user confirmation or multi-factor authentication rather than relying solely on cookie-based session validation. Regular security audits and static code analysis tools configured to detect missing output encoding can further help identify similar vulnerabilities before they are exploited in production environments.