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Full vulnerability report · 2023
CVE-2023-45727High confidence

North Grid Proself Improper Restriction of XML External Entity (XXE) Reference Vulnerability

North Grid · Proself

7.5HighCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Protect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2024-12-24 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityHighOperational priority:Critical, raised one band.upgradedsince 3 Dec 2024

Evidence used

  • CISA confirms exploitation in the wild.
  • The selected CVSS metric records a network-reachable, unauthenticated path with no user interaction.
  • EPSS is 3.54% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
  • Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs North Grid Proself and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: Within 3 daysRemediation target: Within 90 days

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2023-50016

CISA KEV mirrored by ENISA

Proself Enterprise/Standard Edition Ver5.62 and earlier, Proself Gateway Edition Ver1.65 and earlier, and Proself Mail Sanitize Edition Ver1.08 and earlier allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to conduct XML External Entity (XXE) attacks. By processing a specially crafted request containing malformed XML data, arbitrary files on the server containing account information may be read by the attacker.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Recorded by ENISA since 3 Dec 2024. Evidence sources: cisa_kev.
ENISA score
7.5 · CVSS 3.1
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionProtect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2024-12-24 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
01

What, why and how

North Grid Proself Enterprise/Standard, Gateway, and Mail Sanitize contain an improper restriction of XML External Entity (XXE) reference vulnerability, which could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to conduct an XXE attack.

What

North Grid Proself Enterprise/Standard, Gateway, and Mail Sanitize contain an improper restriction of XML External Entity (XXE) reference vulnerability, which could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to conduct an XXE attack.

Why

The product processes an XML document that can contain XML entities with URIs that resolve to documents outside of the intended sphere of control, causing the product to embed incorrect documents into its output.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

What

North Grid Proself Enterprise/Standard, Gateway, and Mail Sanitize contain an improper restriction of XML External Entity (XXE) reference vulnerability, which could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to conduct an XXE attack.

Why

The product processes an XML document that can contain XML entities with URIs that resolve to documents outside of the intended sphere of control, causing the product to embed incorrect documents into its output.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
Confirmed in the wild

CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2024-12-03.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
a network path → Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-611 ↗

CWE-611: Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference. The product processes an XML document that can contain XML entities with URIs that resolve to documents outside of the intended sphere of control, causing the product to embed incorrect documents into its output.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.INoneIntegrity impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
No specific living-off-the-land technique is confirmed in the structured sources. Monitor normal administration tools for activity inconsistent with the affected service's baseline.
NetworkUnauthenticatedCWE-611CISA KEV
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-50016Known-exploited evidence recorded

Proself Enterprise/Standard Edition Ver5.62 and earlier, Proself Gateway Edition Ver1.65 and earlier, and Proself Mail Sanitize Edition Ver1.08 and earlier allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to conduct XML External Entity (XXE) attacks. By processing a specially crafted request containing malformed XML data, arbitrary files on the server containing account information may be read by the attacker.

Official EUVD record ↗
Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20231025Security Bulletin 25 Oct 2023

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 25 Oct 2023, published on 25 October 2023. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.

Official advisory ↗
JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2023-000104Proself における XML 外部実体参照 (XXE) に関する脆弱性

株式会社ノースグリッドが提供するオンラインストレージサーバ Proself には、XML 外部実体参照 (XXE) に関する脆弱性 (CWE-611) が存在します。 開発者によると、本脆弱性を悪用した攻撃が既に確認されています。 この脆弱性情報は、製品利用者への周知を目的に、開発者が JPCERT/CC に報告し、JPCERT/CC が開発者との調整を行いました。

Official advisory ↗
KISA KrCERT/CC · Korean · KNVD-6348美 CISA 발표 주요 Exploit 정보공유(Update. 2024-12-03)

North Grid Proself Enterprise/Standard, Gateway, and Mail Sanitize contain an improper restriction of XML External Entity (XXE) reference vulnerability, which could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to conduct an XXE attack.

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Fix not verified
Affected
  • Proself Enterprise/Standard Edition: Ver5.62 and earlier
  • Proself Gateway Edition: Ver1.65 and earlier
  • Proself Mail Sanitize Edition: Ver1.08 and earlier
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 18 Oct 2023 · Last source change 21 Oct 2025, 23:05 UTC · CWE-611 · Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-50016
Product sourceCISA KEV
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCISA ADP
NVD statusNVD enriched

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗
  1. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    Ver5.62 and earlier; Ver1.65 and earlier; Ver1.08 and earlier · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    After
    Proself Enterprise/Standard Edition: Ver5.62 and earlier; Proself Gateway Edition: Ver1.65 and earlier; Proself Mail Sanitize Edition: Ver1.08 and earlier · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    CNA ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
Added to CISA KEV
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-50016↗CISA KEV record↗CVE authority or vendor reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2023-45727 · cve.blacktree.nl