Is CVE-2023-24538 actively exploited?

No active exploitation of CVE-2023-24538 has been confirmed so far. Continue monitoring, as exploit status can change.

Can CVE-2023-24538 be exploited remotely?

Yes. CVE-2023-24538 is exploitable remotely over the network (CVSS attack vector: Network).

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-24538?

CVE-2023-24538 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL).

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CRITICAL

CVE-2023-24538

CWE-94Published: April 6, 2023· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

9.8

CVSS v3.1

Official Description

Templates do not properly consider backticks (`) as Javascript string delimiters, and do not escape them as expected. Backticks are used, since ES6, for JS template literals. If a template contains a Go template action within a Javascript template literal, the contents of the action can be used to terminate the literal, injecting arbitrary Javascript code into the Go template. As ES6 template literals are rather complex, and themselves can do string interpolation, the decision was made to simply disallow Go template actions from being used inside of them (e.g. "var a = {{.}}"), since there is no obviously safe way to allow this behavior. This takes the same approach as github.com/google/safehtml. With fix, Template.Parse returns an Error when it encounters templates like this, with an ErrorCode of value 12. This ErrorCode is currently unexported, but will be exported in the release of Go 1.21. Users who rely on the previous behavior can re-enable it using the GODEBUG flag jstmpllitinterp=1, with the caveat that backticks will now be escaped. This should be used with caution.

NVD Source

Risk Analysis

The Go template engine fails to properly handle backticks as string delimiters, which can lead to arbitrary JavaScript injection when Go template actions are used within template literals. This critical vulnerability allows attackers to bypass intended security constraints.

No public exploit is known, and it is not in the KEV database. It is remotely exploitable with low complexity.

Recommended Action

Update the Go environment to the patched version that disallows Go template actions inside JavaScript template literals.

Generated by the CTIWATCH analysis pipeline from this CVE's metadata (CVSS, EPSS, KEV status, exploit intelligence). Verify against vendor advisories before acting.

Technical Analysis

CVE-2023-24538 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns and worm-like propagation.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 9.8.