CVE-2023-33176 | Blind SSRF When Uploading Presentation in BigBlueButton

BigBlueButton is an open source virtual classroom designed to help teachers teach and learners learn. In affected versions are affected by a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability. In an `insertDocument` API request the user is able to supply a URL from which the presentation should be downloaded. This URL was being used without having been successfully validated first. An update to the `followRedirect` method in the `PresentationUrlDownloadService` has been made to validate all URLs to be used for presentation download. Two new properties `presentationDownloadSupportedProtocols` and `presentationDownloadBlockedHosts` have also been added to `bigbluebutton.properties` to allow administrators to define what protocols a URL must use and to explicitly define hosts that a presentation cannot be downloaded from. All URLs passed to `insertDocument` must conform to the requirements of the two previously mentioned properties. Additionally, these URLs must resolve to valid addresses, and these addresses must not be local or loopback addresses. There are no workarounds. Users are advised to upgrade to a patched version of BigBlueButton.

Published: 2023-06-26 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-33176 is rated Low Risk (28.2/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.09%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-33176

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-11-21 0.22% 0.09% -0.13%
2 2025-11-18 0.09% 0.22% +0.13%
3 2025-04-15 0.09%

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-33176

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.8 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
2.2 2.5 [email protected]
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 2.5 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-33176

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-33176

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
bigbluebutton bigbluebutton < 2.5.18 cpe:2.3:a:bigbluebutton:bigbluebutton:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
bigbluebutton bigbluebutton >= 2.6.0, < 2.6.9 cpe:2.3:a:bigbluebutton:bigbluebutton:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-33176

cvelogic Threat Intelligence