# CVE-2023-40000: LiteSpeed Cache - XSS

> Live exploitation tracking for CVE-2023-40000 by the CrowdSec Live Exploit Tracker, built from real-world attack data crowdsourced from CrowdSec's global network.

Page: https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2023-40000

## Key facts

- **Exploitation phase:** Limited Exploitation. The vulnerability is known but shows very limited attacker interest or exploitation activity.
- **CVSS score:** 8.3
- **Public exploit available:** Yes
- **Affected products:** LiteSpeed Technologies LiteSpeed Cache
- **Weaknesses:** CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting'))
- **Tags:** cms, wordpress

## Description

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in LiteSpeed Technologies LiteSpeed Cache allows Stored XSS.This issue affects LiteSpeed Cache: from n/a through 5.7.

## CrowdSec analysis

[CVE-2023-40000](https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/CVE-2023-40000) is a vulnerability in LiteSpeed Cache that allows attackers to perform stored cross-site scripting (XSS) through improper input neutralization in web page generation.

CrowdSec has been tracking this vulnerability and its exploits since 20th of May 2025.

CrowdSec network data shows that most actors exploiting CVE-2023-40000 rely on broad, untargeted scans with minimal filtering. The activity is largely automated and opportunistic in nature.
Additionally, according to week-over-week analysis by CrowdSec, exploitation of CVE-2023-40000 is surging. Attack volumes are spiking well above historical norms, indicating widespread and escalating interest from threat actors. CVE-2023-40000 is currently experiencing high visibility and active exploitation across the internet.

Observed attack patterns focus on requests leveraging the `/wp-json/litespeed/v1/cdn_status` URL.

## Timeline

- 2024-04-16: CVE Published. CVE-2023-40000 is published to NVD.
- 2025-05-20: Rule Released. CrowdSec releases a rule to detect CVE-2023-40000 exploitation attempts against the CrowdSec Network.
- 2025-05-20: CrowdSec First Seen. CrowdSec observes in-the-wild exploitation of CVE-2023-40000 for the first time.

## References

- https://github.com/rxerium/CVE-2023-40000

## Live exploitation data

The [Live Exploit Tracker page](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2023-40000) follows observed exploitation activity for CVE-2023-40000. [Request an API key](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/request-api-key) for full access to its exploitation timeline, attacking IP addresses and blocklists.