CVE-2023-4727 – This vulnerability allows attackers to bypass t... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-4727?

CVE-2023-4727 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). This vulnerability allows attackers to bypass token authentication in dogtag-pki and pki-core systems via LDAP injection. By sending a sessionID=* parameter, attackers can authenticate using existing sessions stored in LDAP, potentially leading to privilege escalation. Organizations using affected versions of these PKI management systems are at risk.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability allows attackers to bypass token authentication in dogtag-pki and pki-core systems via LDAP injection. By sending a sessionID=* parameter, attackers can authenticate using existing sessions stored in LDAP, potentially leading to privilege escalation. Organizations using affected versions of these PKI management systems are at risk.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

dogtag-pki
pki-core

Versions: Multiple versions prior to patches released in RHSA-2024 advisories

Operating Systems: Red Hat Enterprise Linux and derivatives

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Affects systems using token-based authentication with LDAP backend. The vulnerability is present in the default configuration when using session-based authentication.

⚠️ Manual Verification Required

This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.

Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).

🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.

Recommended Actions:

Review the CVE details at NVD
Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Full system compromise where attackers gain administrative privileges, access sensitive cryptographic keys, issue fraudulent certificates, and potentially pivot to other systems.

🟠

Likely Case

Unauthorized access to PKI management interfaces, certificate issuance/modification, and privilege escalation within the PKI system.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper network segmentation, authentication controls, and monitoring in place.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - If PKI web interfaces are exposed to the internet, attackers can directly exploit this without internal access.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Requires internal network access but can be exploited by malicious insiders or attackers who have breached perimeter defenses.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: LOW

Exploitation requires sending a crafted HTTP request with sessionID=* parameter. No authentication is required to attempt the bypass, but successful exploitation depends on existing sessions in LDAP.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Multiple versions addressed in RHSA-2024:4051, RHSA-2024:4070, RHSA-2024:4164, RHSA-2024:4165, RHSA-2024:4179

Vendor Advisory: https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:4051

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Identify affected dogtag-pki or pki-core installations. 2. Apply the appropriate Red Hat security update for your system. 3. Restart the PKI services. 4. Verify the patch is applied and test authentication functionality.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable token authentication

linux

Temporarily disable token-based authentication until patches can be applied

# Modify pki configuration to use alternative authentication methods
# Consult product documentation for specific configuration changes

Network access restrictions

linux

Restrict access to PKI management interfaces to trusted networks only

# Use firewall rules to limit access
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-rich-rule='rule family="ipv4" source address="TRUSTED_NETWORK" port port="8443" protocol="tcp" accept'
firewall-cmd --reload

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement strict network segmentation to isolate PKI systems from untrusted networks
Enable detailed logging and monitoring for authentication attempts and session creation

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check installed package versions: rpm -qa | grep -E '(dogtag-pki|pki-core)' and compare against patched versions in Red Hat advisories

Check Version:

rpm -qa | grep -E '(dogtag-pki|pki-core)'

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify package version after update: rpm -q --changelog dogtag-pki | grep -i 'CVE-2023-4727'

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Unusual authentication patterns
Multiple failed login attempts followed by successful login with wildcard sessionID
LDAP queries with wildcard session parameters

Network Indicators:

HTTP requests containing sessionID=* parameter to PKI endpoints
Unusual source IPs accessing PKI management interfaces

SIEM Query:

source="pki_logs" AND (sessionID="*" OR "sessionID=*")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-4727

CVSS v3 Score: 7.5 (HIGH)

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

CWE: CWE-305

Published: June 11, 2024

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

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