CVE-2023-49093 | HtmlUnit vulnerable to Remote Code Execution (RCE) via XSTL

Exp

HtmlUnit is a GUI-less browser for Java programs. HtmlUnit is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution (RCE) via XSTL, when browsing the attacker’s webpage. This vulnerability has been patched in version 3.9.0

Published: 2023-12-04 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-49093 is rated High Exploit Risk (79.9/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.36%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2023-49093

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-49093

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 2026-06-15 5.14% 2.36% -2.78%
2 2026-05-28 5.28% 5.14% -0.13%
3 2026-05-22 — 5.28% —

Full EPSS history (22 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-49093

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-49093

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-49093

GHSA-37vq-hr2f-g7h7 · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: maven — HtmlUnit vulnerable to Remote Code Execution (RCE) via XSTL

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-49093

vendor priority summary link
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-49093
ubuntu high CVE-2023-49093 high priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (htmlunit), 12 status rows across 12 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 8, needs-triage 3, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-49093

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-49093

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
htmlunit htmlunit < 3.9.0 cpe:2.3:a:htmlunit:htmlunit:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-49093

cvelogic Threat Intelligence