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Full vulnerability report · 2023
CVE-2023-23612High confidence

Issue with whitespace in JWT roles in OpenSearch

opensearch-project · security

Official source article: GitHub GHSA-864V-6QJ7-62QJ ↗. Check the applicable product and release in the original source.

4.7MediumCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Scheduled

Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.

Fix not verified
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityMediumOperational priority:Medium, unchanged from published severity.unchanged

Evidence used

  • No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
  • EPSS is 0.80% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
  • Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs opensearch-project security and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: As exposure requiresRemediation target: Within 365 days

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Distribution package intelligence

Release-specific package status

Debian, ubuntu findings are scoped to the named distribution, release and source package. An absent finding does not mean a package is unaffected.

2 package states
Repository candidate not checked

A published vendor fix does not prove that a matching update is enabled and installable on a particular asset. Confirm the local package candidate before scheduling remediation.

Distribution releaseSource packageVendor stateFixed versionEvidence
Debian sidsid · sourceopensearchAffected, no fix publishedDebian currently tracks this release as open.Not published in this feedDebian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 5 Oct 2026
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSnoble · standard archiveopensearchUnder evaluationCanonical reports that the package might be affected and still needs evaluation or fixing.Not published in this feedCanonical Ubuntu Security ↗Source updated 5 Oct 2026
Open-source package ranges2 source-attributed ranges

These OSV and GitHub advisory ranges apply only to the named package and ecosystem. A listed fixed version is not a universal product patch or proof that an update is installed.

Ecosystem and packageAffected rangeFirst fixed versionEvidence
mavenorg.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security< 1.3.81.3.8GitHub advisory ↗upstream repository advisory · 16 Jan 2025
mavenorg.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security>= 2.0.0, < 2.5.02.5.0GitHub advisory ↗upstream repository advisory · 16 Jan 2025
Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2023-0397

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionScheduled

Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.

Fix not verified
01

What, why and how

OpenSearch is an open source distributed and RESTful search engine. OpenSearch uses JWTs to store role claims obtained from the Identity Provider (IdP) when the authentication backend is SAML or OpenID Connect. There is an issue in how those claims are processed from the JWTs where the leading and trailing whitespace is trimmed, allowing users to potentially claim roles they are not assigned to if any role matches the whitespace-stripped version of the roles they are a member of. This issue is only present for authenticated users, and it requires either the existence of roles that match, not considering leading/trailing whitespace, or the ability for users to create said matching roles. In addition, the Identity Provider must allow leading and trailing spaces in role names. OpenSearch 1.0.0-1.3.7 and 2.0.0-2.4.1 are affected. Users are advised to upgrade to OpenSearch 1.3.8 or 2.5.0. There are no known workarounds for this issue.

What

OpenSearch is an open source distributed and RESTful search engine. OpenSearch uses JWTs to store role claims obtained from the Identity Provider (IdP) when the authentication backend is SAML or OpenID Connect. There is an issue in how those claims are processed from the JWTs where the leading and trailing whitespace is trimmed, allowing users to potentially claim roles they are not assigned to if any role matches the whitespace-stripped version of the roles they are a member of. This issue is only present for authenticated users, and it requires either the existence of roles that match, not considering leading/trailing whitespace, or the ability for users to create said matching roles. In addition, the Identity Provider must allow leading and trailing spaces in role names. OpenSearch 1.0.0-1.3.7 and 2.0.0-2.4.1 are affected. Users are advised to upgrade to OpenSearch 1.3.8 or 2.5.0. There are no known workarounds for this issue.

Why

The affected component does not establish the requesting party's identity reliably before granting access.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

What

OpenSearch is an open source distributed and RESTful search engine. OpenSearch uses JWTs to store role claims obtained from the Identity Provider (IdP) when the authentication backend is SAML or OpenID Connect. There is an issue in how those claims are processed from the JWTs where the leading and trailing whitespace is trimmed, allowing users to potentially claim roles they are not assigned to if any role matches the whitespace-stripped version of the roles they are a member of. This issue is only present for authenticated users, and it requires either the existence of roles that match, not considering leading/trailing whitespace, or the ability for users to create said matching roles. In addition, the Identity Provider must allow leading and trailing spaces in role names. OpenSearch 1.0.0-1.3.7 and 2.0.0-2.4.1 are affected. Users are advised to upgrade to OpenSearch 1.3.8 or 2.5.0. There are no known workarounds for this issue.

Why

The affected component does not establish the requesting party's identity reliably before granting access.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
a network path → Improper Authentication → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
High: elevated access is required
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-287 ↗

CWE-287: Improper Authentication. When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRHighPrivileges required: The attacker needs elevated or administrative privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CLowConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.ILowIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.ALowAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
No specific living-off-the-land technique is confirmed in the structured sources. Monitor normal administration tools for activity inconsistent with the affected service's baseline.
NetworkCWE-287
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20230201Security Bulletin 01 Feb 2023

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 01 Feb 2023, published on 1 February 2023. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.

Official advisory ↗
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2024-AVI-1081Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits IBM

cord?id=CVE-2020-8908 Référence CVE CVE-2021-22569 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-22569 Référence CVE CVE-2022-23491 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-23491 Référence CVE CVE-2022-31160 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-31160 Référence CVE CVE-2022-3171 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-3171 Référence CVE CVE-2022-40152 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-40152 Référence CVE CVE-2022-41881 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-41881 Référence CVE CVE-2022-41915 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-41915 Référence CVE CVE-2022-41917 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-41917 Référence CVE CVE-2023-23612 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-23612 Référence CVE CVE-2023-23613 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-23613 Référence CVE CVE-2023-2976 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-2976 Référence CVE CVE-2023-31582 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-31582 Référence CVE CVE-2023-33546 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-33546 Référence CVE CVE-2023-34453 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-34453 Référence CVE CVE-2023-34454 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-34454 Référence CVE CVE-2023-34455 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-34455 Référence CVE CVE-2023-34462 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CV

Official advisory ↗
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2024-AVI-0692Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits IBM

d?id=CVE-2023-21930 Référence CVE CVE-2023-21937 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-21937 Référence CVE CVE-2023-21938 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-21938 Référence CVE CVE-2023-21939 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-21939 Référence CVE CVE-2023-21967 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-21967 Référence CVE CVE-2023-21968 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-21968 Référence CVE CVE-2023-22067 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-22067 Référence CVE CVE-2023-22081 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-22081 Référence CVE CVE-2023-23487 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-23487 Référence CVE CVE-2023-23612 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-23612 Référence CVE CVE-2023-23613 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-23613 Référence CVE CVE-2023-25193 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-25193 Référence CVE CVE-2023-2597 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-2597 Référence CVE CVE-2023-27558 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-27558 Référence CVE CVE-2023-27867 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-27867 Référence CVE CVE-2023-27868 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-27868 Référence CVE CVE-2023-27869 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-27869 Référence CVE CVE-2023-29256 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CV

Official advisory ↗
JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2023-002425OpenSearch における認証に関する脆弱性

OpenSearch には、認証に関する脆弱性が存在します。

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Fix not verified
Affected
security: >= 2.0.0, < 2.5.0, < 1.3.8
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 24 Jan 2023 · Last source change 10 Mar 2025, 21:20 UTC · CWE-287 · Improper Authentication

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-0397
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗

No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.

Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2023-23612 · cve.blacktree.nl