CVE-2023-27578 – CVE-2023-27578 is an insufficient permission ch... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-27578?

CVE-2023-27578 has a CVSS score of 9.1 (CRITICAL). CVE-2023-27578 is an insufficient permission check vulnerability in Galaxy data analysis platform that allows attackers to modify, delete, copy, or import any Galaxy Visualization or Page if they know the encoded ID. All Galaxy installations prior to versions 22.01, 22.05, and 23.0 are affected, including unsupported versions with Visualization/Pages functionality.

📋 TL;DR

CVE-2023-27578 is an insufficient permission check vulnerability in Galaxy data analysis platform that allows attackers to modify, delete, copy, or import any Galaxy Visualization or Page if they know the encoded ID. All Galaxy installations prior to versions 22.01, 22.05, and 23.0 are affected, including unsupported versions with Visualization/Pages functionality.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Galaxy Platform

Versions: All versions prior to 22.01, 22.05, and 23.0; unsupported versions with Visualization/Pages functionality

Operating Systems: All operating systems running Galaxy

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All default configurations are vulnerable; the vulnerability exists in the core permission checking mechanism for Visualizations and Pages.

📦 What is this software?

Galaxy by Galaxyproject

View all CVEs affecting Galaxy →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete compromise of Galaxy Visualizations and Pages data, including unauthorized modifications, deletions, and data exfiltration through copying/importing functionality.

🟠

Likely Case

Unauthorized modification or deletion of critical analysis visualizations and pages, potentially disrupting research workflows and compromising data integrity.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact if proper network segmentation and access controls prevent unauthorized users from reaching Galaxy instances.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - Internet-facing Galaxy instances are directly exploitable by attackers who can guess or obtain encoded IDs.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal attackers or compromised accounts can exploit this vulnerability, but requires knowledge of encoded IDs.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: LOW

Exploitation requires knowledge of encoded IDs but no authentication; simple HTTP requests can trigger the vulnerability once IDs are known.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 22.01, 22.05, or 23.0

Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/galaxyproject/galaxy/security/advisories/GHSA-j8q2-r4g5-f22j

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Identify your Galaxy version. 2. Download appropriate patch from Galaxy patch depot. 3. Apply patch to your Galaxy installation. 4. Restart all Galaxy server processes. 5. Verify the fix by testing permission checks.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

No supported workarounds

all

The vendor states there are no supported workarounds for this vulnerability

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement strict network access controls to limit Galaxy access to authorized users only
Monitor for suspicious activity on Visualization/Pages endpoints and implement ID obfuscation

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Galaxy version; if running any version prior to 22.01, 22.05, or 23.0, you are vulnerable.

Check Version:

Check Galaxy configuration files or run 'galaxy --version' if available in your installation

Verify Fix Applied:

After patching and restarting, test that unauthorized users cannot modify Visualizations/Pages even with known IDs.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Unauthorized access attempts to /api/visualizations or /api/pages endpoints
Modification requests to Visualizations/Pages from unexpected users

Network Indicators:

HTTP POST/PUT/DELETE requests to visualization/page endpoints without proper authentication headers

SIEM Query:

source="galaxy_logs" AND (uri="/api/visualizations/*" OR uri="/api/pages/*") AND (http_method="POST" OR http_method="PUT" OR http_method="DELETE") AND NOT user="authorized_user"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-27578

CVSS v3 Score: 9.1 (CRITICAL)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

CWE: CWE-284

Published: March 20, 2023

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

https://depot.galaxyproject.org/patch/GX-2022-0002/modify_pages_viz-release_22.01.patch Broken Link
https://depot.galaxyproject.org/patch/GX-2022-0002/modify_pages_viz-release_22.05.patch Broken Link
https://depot.galaxyproject.org/patch/GX-2022-0002/modify_pages_viz-release_23.0.patch Broken Link
https://github.com/galaxyproject/galaxy/security/advisories/GHSA-j8q2-r4g5-f22j Patch,Vendor Advisory
https://depot.galaxyproject.org/patch/GX-2022-0002/modify_pages_viz-release_22.01.patch Broken Link
https://depot.galaxyproject.org/patch/GX-2022-0002/modify_pages_viz-release_22.05.patch Broken Link
https://depot.galaxyproject.org/patch/GX-2022-0002/modify_pages_viz-release_23.0.patch Broken Link
https://github.com/galaxyproject/galaxy/security/advisories/GHSA-j8q2-r4g5-f22j Patch,Vendor Advisory

📤 Share & Export

📄 Export Markdown 📋 Export JSON

🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

If you're affected by CVE-2023-27578, you might also want to check these: