CVE-2023-34060 – This CVE describes an authentication bypass vul... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-34060?

CVE-2023-34060 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL). This CVE describes an authentication bypass vulnerability in VMware Cloud Director Appliance 10.5 when upgraded from older versions. Attackers with network access can bypass login restrictions on SSH (port 22) and appliance management console (port 5480), potentially gaining unauthorized access. Only upgraded installations are affected - fresh installations are not vulnerable.

📋 TL;DR

This CVE describes an authentication bypass vulnerability in VMware Cloud Director Appliance 10.5 when upgraded from older versions. Attackers with network access can bypass login restrictions on SSH (port 22) and appliance management console (port 5480), potentially gaining unauthorized access. Only upgraded installations are affected - fresh installations are not vulnerable.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

VMware Cloud Director Appliance

Versions: Version 10.5 when upgraded from older versions

Operating Systems: Photon OS with affected sssd versions

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Only affects upgraded installations from older versions. Fresh installations of 10.5 are not vulnerable. Port 443 (VCD provider/tenant login) is not affected.

📦 What is this software?

Cloud Director by Vmware

View all CVEs affecting Cloud Director →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete compromise of the VMware Cloud Director Appliance allowing administrative access, data exfiltration, and potential lateral movement to connected systems.

🟠

Likely Case

Unauthorized access to the appliance management interface leading to configuration changes, service disruption, or credential harvesting.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact if network access controls restrict access to ports 22 and 5480, or if monitoring detects unusual authentication patterns.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - If ports 22 or 5480 are exposed to the internet, attackers can directly exploit this without authentication.

🏢 Internal Only: HIGH - Internal attackers or compromised systems can exploit this to gain elevated privileges on the appliance.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: LOW

Exploitation requires network access to ports 22 or 5480 but no authentication credentials. The vulnerability is in the underlying sssd component of Photon OS.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Update to Photon OS with sssd-2.8.1-11 or higher (Photon OS 3) or sssd-2.8.2-9 or higher (Photon OS 4 and 5)

Vendor Advisory: https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0026.html

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Apply Photon OS security updates for your version (3.0-687, 4.0-512, or 5.0-143). 2. Restart the VMware Cloud Director Appliance. 3. Verify sssd version meets patched requirements.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Network Access Restriction

linux

Block external access to ports 22 (SSH) and 5480 (appliance management) using firewall rules

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -j DROP
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 5480 -j DROP

Network Segmentation

all

Place VMware Cloud Director Appliance in a restricted network segment with limited access

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement strict network access controls to limit access to ports 22 and 5480 to trusted IP addresses only
Enable detailed logging and monitoring for authentication attempts on affected ports and set up alerts for suspicious activity

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check if VMware Cloud Director Appliance is version 10.5 upgraded from older version and verify sssd version: rpm -qa | grep sssd

Check Version:

cat /etc/photon-release && rpm -qa | grep sssd

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify sssd version meets patched requirements: sssd-2.8.1-11 or higher for Photon OS 3, or sssd-2.8.2-9 or higher for Photon OS 4/5

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Failed authentication attempts followed by successful access on ports 22/5480
Unusual SSH or management console access from unexpected sources
Authentication logs showing bypass patterns

Network Indicators:

Unusual traffic patterns to ports 22 or 5480
Authentication attempts without proper credential exchange

SIEM Query:

source="vmware-logs" AND (port=22 OR port=5480) AND (event_type="authentication" OR event_type="login") AND result="success"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-34060

CVSS v3 Score: 9.8 (CRITICAL)

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

CWE: CWE-306

Published: November 14, 2023

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

https://github.com/vmware/photon/wiki/Security-Update-3.0-687 Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/vmware/photon/wiki/Security-Update-4.0-512 Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/vmware/photon/wiki/Security-Update-5.0-143 Vendor Advisory
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0026.html Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/vmware/photon/wiki/Security-Update-3.0-687 Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/vmware/photon/wiki/Security-Update-4.0-512 Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/vmware/photon/wiki/Security-Update-5.0-143 Vendor Advisory
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0026.html Vendor Advisory

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