CVE-2023-38507: Strapi Improper Rate Limiting vulnerability

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 1.0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: yes
Published: 2023-09-15 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-770

Description

Strapi is the an open-source headless content management system. Prior to version 4.12.1, there is a rate limit on the login function of Strapi's admin screen, but it is possible to circumvent it. Therefore, the possibility of unauthorized login by login brute force attack increases. Version 4.12.1 has a fix for this issue.

Affected products

strapi: before 4.12.1 — fixed in 4.12.1

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: strapi 4.12.1. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

https://github.com/strapi/strapi/blob/32d68f1f5677ed9a9a505b718c182c0a3f885426/packages/core/admin/server/middlewares/rateLimit.js#L31
https://github.com/strapi/strapi/releases/tag/v4.12.1
https://github.com/strapi/strapi/security/advisories/GHSA-24q2-59hm-rh9r
https://github.com/strapi/strapi/blob/32d68f1f5677ed9a9a505b718c182c0a3f885426/packages/core/admin/server/middlewares/rateLimit.js#L31
https://github.com/strapi/strapi/releases/tag/v4.12.1
https://github.com/strapi/strapi/security/advisories/GHSA-24q2-59hm-rh9r

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