If left unpatched, CVE-2023-41337 could lead to major system disruptions or data loss.
Status: Modified
Last updated: 🕗 21 Nov 2024, 08:21 UTC
Originally published on: 🕗 12 Dec 2023, 20:15 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 344 days
CVSS Release: version 3
security-advisories@github.com
Secondary
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
CVE-2023-41337: h2o is an HTTP server with support for HTTP/1.x, HTTP/2 and HTTP/3. In version 2.3.0-beta2 and prior, when h2o is configured to listen to multiple addresses or ports with each of them using different backend servers managed by multiple entities, a malicious backend entity that also has the opportunity to observe or inject packets exchanged between the client and h2o may misdirect HTTPS requests going to other backends and observe the contents of that HTTPS request being sent. The attack involves a victim client trying to resume a TLS connection and an attacker redirecting the packets to a different address or port than that intended by the client. The attacker must already have been configured by the administrator of h2o to act as a backend to one of the addresses or ports that the h2o instance listens to. Session IDs and tickets generated by h2o are not bound to information specific to the server address, port, or the X.509 certificate, and therefore it is possible for an attacker to force the victim connection to wrongfully resume against a different server address or port on which the same h2o instance is listening. Once a TLS session is misdirected to resume to a server address / port that is configured to use an attacker-controlled server as the backend, depending on the configuration, HTTPS requests from the victim client may be forwarded to the attacker's server. An H2O instance is vulnerable to this attack only if the instance is configured to listen to different addresses or ports using the listen directive at the host level and the instance is configured to connect to backend servers managed by multiple entities. A patch is available at commit 35760540337a47e5150da0f4a66a609fad2ef0ab. As a workaround, one may stop using using host-level listen directives in favor of global-level ones.
The exploitability of CVE-2023-41337 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).
This vulnerability, CVE-2023-41337, requires a high level of attack complexity and low privileges, making it difficult but not impossible to exploit. Organizations should ensure robust security configurations to mitigate risks.
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.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2023-41337, 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.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2023-41337, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.
EPSS Score: 0.043% (probability of exploit)
EPSS Percentile: 12.0%
(lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 88.0% of others.
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