CVE-2023-26511
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2023-26511 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Propius MachineSelector's web admin panel. Attackers can exploit hard-coded admin credentials to gain full administrative access to the system, potentially compromising the entire machine. This affects all installations of Propius MachineSelector versions 6.6.0 and 6.6.1.
💻 Affected Systems
- Propius MachineSelector
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system takeover allowing attackers to modify configurations, access sensitive data, deploy malware, or use the system as a pivot point for lateral movement within the network.
Likely Case
Unauthorized administrative access leading to data theft, system manipulation, and potential ransomware deployment.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if system is isolated behind strong network segmentation and access controls, though credentials remain exposed.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires only knowledge of the hard-coded credentials and access to the admin panel URL.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 6.6.2 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://www.propius.de/ms_security.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download latest version from Propius website. 2. Backup current installation. 3. Install update following vendor instructions. 4. Restart the MachineSelector service.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Access Restriction
allBlock external access to the admin panel using firewall rules
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport [admin_port] -j DROP
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Block MachineSelector Admin" dir=in action=block protocol=TCP localport=[admin_port]
Admin Panel URL Restriction
allUse web server configuration to restrict access to Propiusadmin.php
# Apache: <Location /Propiusadmin.php> Require ip 192.168.1.0/24 </Location>
# Nginx: location /Propiusadmin.php { allow 192.168.1.0/24; deny all; }
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Immediately isolate affected systems from internet and restrict network access to trusted IPs only
- Implement strict monitoring and alerting for any access attempts to the admin panel
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if Propiusadmin.php is accessible and if version is 6.6.0 or 6.6.1Check Version:
Check web interface footer or configuration files for version informationVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 6.6.2 or later and test that hard-coded credentials no longer work📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Failed login attempts with hard-coded credentials
- Successful admin logins from unexpected IPs
- Configuration changes from unknown users
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests to /Propiusadmin.php from external IPs
- Unusual admin panel access patterns
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND (uri="/Propiusadmin.php" OR user_agent CONTAINS "MachineSelector")