CVE-2023-6236 – This vulnerability allows authentication bypass... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-6236?

CVE-2023-6236 has a CVSS score of 7.3 (HIGH). This vulnerability allows authentication bypass in Red Hat Enterprise Application Platform 8 when using OIDC with multi-tenant applications. An attacker could potentially access a second tenant without proper authentication by exploiting flawed token caching logic. Only EAP 8 deployments using OIDC with the provider-url configuration option are affected.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability allows authentication bypass in Red Hat Enterprise Application Platform 8 when using OIDC with multi-tenant applications. An attacker could potentially access a second tenant without proper authentication by exploiting flawed token caching logic. Only EAP 8 deployments using OIDC with the provider-url configuration option are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Red Hat Enterprise Application Platform 8

Versions: EAP 8 versions with OIDC provider-url configuration

Operating Systems: All supported RHEL versions

Default Config Vulnerable: ✅ No

Notes: Only affects EAP 8 deployments using OIDC with the provider-url configuration option. EAP 7 is not affected as it doesn't support this configuration option.

⚠️ 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

Unauthorized access to sensitive tenant data and resources across organizational boundaries, potentially leading to data breaches and privilege escalation.

🟠

Likely Case

Unauthorized access to secondary tenant applications when users should be prompted for re-authentication, potentially exposing tenant-specific data.

🟢

If Mitigated

Proper authentication controls prevent unauthorized access, but the vulnerability still represents a security weakness that should be patched.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires understanding of OIDC multi-tenant configurations and access to the application. No public exploit code is currently available.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Apply RHSA-2024:3580, RHSA-2024:3581, or RHSA-2024:3583 depending on your EAP 8 configuration

Vendor Advisory: https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-6236

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Review RHSA advisories for your specific EAP 8 configuration. 2. Apply the appropriate security update via yum update. 3. Restart the EAP 8 server. 4. Verify the patch is applied correctly.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable OIDC provider-url configuration

all

Remove or disable the provider-url configuration option in OIDC settings if multi-tenant functionality is not required.

Edit OIDC configuration files to remove provider-url settings

Implement session validation middleware

all

Add custom session validation to ensure proper tenant isolation before token reuse.

Implement custom authentication filter in application code

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement network segmentation to isolate multi-tenant applications
Add additional authentication checks at application layer for tenant switching

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check if EAP 8 is using OIDC with provider-url configuration and multi-tenant applications. Review OIDC configuration files for provider-url settings.

Check Version:

rpm -q jboss-eap-8

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify the applied patch version matches RHSA-2024:3580, RHSA-2024:3581, or RHSA-2024:3583. Test multi-tenant authentication flows to ensure proper re-authentication prompts.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Unexpected tenant switching without authentication prompts
OIDC token reuse across different provider URLs
Authentication bypass attempts in audit logs

Network Indicators:

Unauthorized access patterns to tenant-specific endpoints
Session token reuse across different authentication domains

SIEM Query:

source="eap8" AND (event_type="authentication" AND tenant_switch="true" AND reauth="false")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-6236

CVSS v3 Score: 7.3 (HIGH)

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

CWE: CWE-345

Published: April 10, 2024

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

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