Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-25840 is a low-severity stored cross-site scripting issue in Esri ArcGIS Server. A highly privileged authenticated attacker could create a crafted link that requires a victim to interact with it. The documented impact is limited and does not indicate data theft, system takeover, or service disruption.
Executive priority
Treat as routine patching unless ArcGIS Server is broadly accessible or high-privilege accounts are widely held. The business urgency is low because exploitation requires privileged access and user interaction, with limited documented impact.
Technical view
The issue is CWE-79 in the ArcGIS REST Services Directory for ArcGIS Server versions 11.1 and below. CVSS 3.1 is 3.4: network reachable, low complexity, high privileges required, user interaction required, changed scope, no confidentiality impact, low integrity impact, and no availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where ArcGIS Server or ArcGIS Enterprise Server 11.1 or earlier is deployed and the REST Services Directory is reachable by authenticated high-privilege users.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or other evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires high privileges and victim interaction. The described behavior is constrained: an onmouseover action would not execute, but an image could potentially render in the victim browser.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports a low-severity stored XSS classification, but the bundle does not provide detailed affected build ranges, exact patch identifiers, or proof-of-exploit details. Do not infer broader ArcGIS components or active exploitation from the supplied sources.
Mitigation direction
- Review Esri’s ArcGIS Server Security 2023 Update 1 patch advisory.
- Apply the Esri patch where affected ArcGIS Server versions are present.
- Restrict REST Services Directory access to trusted authenticated users.
- Review administrative accounts for unnecessary high privileges.
Validation and detection
- Inventory ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Enterprise Server versions.
- Confirm whether any deployments are version 11.1 or below.
- Check whether the REST Services Directory is enabled and reachable.
- Verify the Esri security patch is installed where applicable.
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
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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-2023-25840 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Low
- CVSS
- 3.4 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
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:N/I:L/A:N1.71.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
3.4LowVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
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.
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.