CVE-2023-43791: Label Studio has Hardcoded Django `SECRET_KEY` that can be Abused to Forge Session Tokens

Should you act?

Critical and remotely reachable

No known exploitation yet, but it is network-reachable without credentials. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.

• Not in CISA KEV, but CISA’s SSVC assessment records a public proof-of-concept, so attack code exists.
• EPSS 1.2%, percentile 69: FIRST’s model estimates a 1.2% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 69% of all scored CVEs (moderate). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
• Remotely reachable with no login and no user interaction. If the vulnerable service is exposed to the internet, prioritize it.
• Only applies if your dependency tree includes label-studio (PyPI) < 1.8.2, fixed in 1.8.2. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

What it is

Label Studio is a multi-type data labeling and annotation tool with standardized output format. There is a vulnerability that can be chained within the ORM Leak vulnerability to impersonate any account on Label Studio. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities to escalate their privileges from a low privilege user to a Django Super Administrator user. The vulnerability was found to affect versions before 1.8.2, where a patch was introduced.

From the GitHub advisory

Introduction

This write-up describes a vulnerability found in Label Studio, a popular open source data labeling tool. The vulnerability was found to affect versions before 1.8.2, where a patch was introduced.

Overview

In Label Studio version 1.8.1, a hard coded Django SECRETKEY was set in the application settings. The Django SECRETKEY is used for signing session tokens by the web application framework, and should never be shared with unauthorised parties.

However, the Django framework inserts a authuserhash claim in the session token that is a HMAC hash of the account's password hash. That claim would normally prevent forging a valid Django session token without knowing the password hash of the account. However, any authenticated user can exploit an Object Relational Mapper (ORM) Leak vulnerability in Label Studio to leak the password hash of any account on the platform, which is reported as a separate vulnerability. An attacker can exploit the ORM Leak vulnerability (which was patched in 1.9.2post0) and forge session tokens for all users on Label Studio using the hard coded SECRETKEY.

Weakness type: CWE-200.

Product: label-studio (PyPI) · Assigned by: GitHub_M · Published: 2023-11-09

Affected and fixed versions

Severity scores

• Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
• Attack complexity: low
• Privileges required: none (no login)
• User interaction: none
• Scope: unchanged

CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.

Exploitation and urgency

• CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
• CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation poc, automatable yes, technical impact total.
• FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 1.24% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 69.

Timeline

• 2023-11-09 — CVE record published by GitHub_M
• 2023-11-09 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-f475-x83m-rx5m published (critical)
• 2024-09-03 — CVE record last updated

Sources and references

Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.

Vulnerability records

1. GitHub Advisory GHSA-f475-x83m-rx5m github.com
2. CVE.org record CVE-2023-43791 cve.org
3. NVD entry CVE-2023-43791 nvd.nist.gov

Other references from the CVE record and advisory

1. github.com github.com
2. github.com github.com
3. github.com github.com
4. github.com github.com
5. github.com github.com

Critical PyPI advisories · Today’s Security Digest