Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-25835 is a stored XSS issue in Esri Portal for ArcGIS Enterprise Sites 11.1 and below. A highly privileged authenticated user could persist a crafted link in site configuration. If a victim opens it, JavaScript may run in their browser, risking session data, trusted content changes, user-action manipulation, and service disruption.
Executive priority
Prioritize patching where ArcGIS Enterprise Sites is internet-facing or broadly used internally. The attacker needs high privileges, but successful exploitation can compromise user sessions and trusted content, creating material confidentiality, integrity, and availability risk.
Technical view
The flaw is CWE-79 stored XSS with CVSS 8.4. Attack requirements are network access, low complexity, high privileges, and victim interaction; scope changes because browser execution can affect the victim’s trust context. The CVE source identifies Portal for ArcGIS Sites versions 11.1 and below and references Esri’s security patch notice.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to organizations running Esri Portal for ArcGIS Sites 11.1 or below, especially where high-privileged users administer Sites. Internet-facing portals increase victim reach, but the source requires authenticated high-privileged access before persistence.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not claim active exploitation, and this CVE is not marked KEV in the bundle. Exploitation depends on a privileged authenticated attacker placing malicious content and a victim accessing the affected site content.
Researcher notes
Key constraints are high privileges and user interaction. The CVSS vector is AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H. Evidence in the bundle supports stored XSS and patch availability, but not active exploitation or detailed fixed-version mapping.
Mitigation direction
- Apply Esri’s referenced Portal for ArcGIS Enterprise Sites security patch.
- Check Esri guidance for exact supported versions and patch prerequisites.
- Restrict high-privileged Sites administration access to trusted personnel.
- Review site configuration changes made by privileged users.
- Monitor for suspicious content edits or unexpected links in Sites.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Portal for ArcGIS Sites deployments and confirm versions.
- Verify whether Esri’s security patch is installed on affected systems.
- Review administrative audit logs for unusual Sites configuration changes.
- Inspect published Sites content for unexpected links or script-like content.
- Perform only authorized, non-invasive XSS validation in a test environment.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-79: User-session and phishing behavior lookup
Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2023-25835 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.4 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H1.76Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.4HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.