CVE-2023-40299 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2023-40299
Vulnerability Scoring

7.8
/10
Very High Risk

Highly exploitable, CVE-2023-40299 poses a critical security risk that could lead to severe breaches.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Low
    Exploits can be performed without significant complexity or special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Local
    Vulnerability requires local system access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Unchanged
    Exploit remains within the originally vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: Required
    User interaction is necessary for successful exploitation.

CVE-2023-40299 Details

Status: Modified

Last updated: 🕗 21 Nov 2024, 08:19 UTC
Originally published on: 🕙 04 Oct 2023, 22:15 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 413 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

nvd@nist.gov

CVSS3 Type

Primary

CVSS3 Vector

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

CVE-2023-40299 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2023-40299: Kong Insomnia 2023.4.0 on macOS allows attackers to execute code and access restricted files, or make requests for TCC permissions, by using the DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES environment variable.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2023-40299

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2023-40299 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2023-40299

With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2023-40299 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2023-40299, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2023-40299, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: High
    Exploiting CVE-2023-40299 can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, severely compromising data privacy.
  • Integrity: High
    CVE-2023-40299 could allow unauthorized modifications to data, potentially affecting system reliability and trust.
  • Availability: High
    CVE-2023-40299 can disrupt system operations, potentially causing complete denial of service (DoS).

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 0.08% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 37.33% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 62.67% of others.

CVE-2023-40299 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-114

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Command Line Execution through SQL Injection CAPEC-108 An attacker uses standard SQL injection methods to inject data into the command line for execution. This could be done directly through misuse of directives such as MSSQL_xp_cmdshell or indirectly through injection of data into the database that would be interpreted as shell commands. Sometime later, an unscrupulous backend application (or could be part of the functionality of the same application) fetches the injected data stored in the database and uses this data as command line arguments without performing proper validation. The malicious data escapes that data plane by spawning new commands to be executed on the host.
  • Inclusion of Code in Existing Process CAPEC-640 The adversary takes advantage of a bug in an application failing to verify the integrity of the running process to execute arbitrary code in the address space of a separate live process. The adversary could use running code in the context of another process to try to access process's memory, system/network resources, etc. The goal of this attack is to evade detection defenses and escalate privileges by masking the malicious code under an existing legitimate process. Examples of approaches include but not limited to: dynamic-link library (DLL) injection, portable executable injection, thread execution hijacking, ptrace system calls, VDSO hijacking, function hooking, reflective code loading, and more.

Vulnerable Configurations

  • cpe:2.3:a:konghq:insomnia:2023.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:konghq:insomnia:2023.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:apple:macos:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:apple:macos:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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