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CVE-2023-2295· NVD / CVE Program· CNA redhat

A vulnerability was found in the libreswan library.

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 30/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.5% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 75.1% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
  • Fixed version: libreswan (AlmaLinux:8) 4.9-3.el8_8; libreswan (AlmaLinux:9) 4.9-4.el9_2; libreswan (Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream) 0:4.9-3.el8_8.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to libreswan (AlmaLinux:8) 4.9-3.el8_8; libreswan (AlmaLinux:9) 4.9-4.el9_2; libreswan (Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream) 0:4.9-3.el8_8 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

A vulnerability was found in the libreswan library. This security issue occurs when an IKEv1 Aggressive Mode packet is received with only unacceptable crypto algorithms, and the response packet is not sent with a zero responder SPI. When a subsequent packet is received where the sender reuses the libreswan responder SPI as its own initiator SPI, the pluto daemon state machine crashes. No remote code execution is possible. This CVE exists because of a CVE-2023-30570 security regression for libreswan package in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2.

HighCVSS 7.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
May 17, 2023
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
1.5% · 75th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

30

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 1.5%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2023-2295

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
libreswanlibreswan
redhatenterprise linux
redhatenterprise linux eus
redhatenterprise linux server aus
redhatenterprise linux server tus

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • libreswan libreswan4.9-1.el8
  • libreswan libreswan4.9-1.el9
  • redhat enterprise linux8.0
  • redhat enterprise linux9.0
  • redhat enterprise linux eus8.8
  • redhat enterprise linux eus9.2
  • redhat enterprise linux server aus8.8
  • redhat enterprise linux server aus9.2
  • redhat enterprise linux server tus8.8

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (redhat). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • n/a libreswan

    • Affects libreswan v4.9-1.el8 and libreswan v4.9-1.el9, Fixed in libreswan v4.9-3.el8_8 and libreswan v4.9-4.el9_2affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
AlmaLinux:8libreswanbefore 4.9-3.el8_84.9-3.el8_8
AlmaLinux:9libreswanbefore 4.9-4.el9_24.9-4.el9_2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstreamlibreswanbefore 0:4.9-3.el8_80:4.9-3.el8_8
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstreamlibreswan-debuginfobefore 0:4.9-3.el8_80:4.9-3.el8_8
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstreamlibreswan-debugsourcebefore 0:4.9-3.el8_80:4.9-3.el8_8
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstreamlibreswanbefore 0:4.9-4.el9_20:4.9-4.el9_2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstreamlibreswan-debuginfobefore 0:4.9-4.el9_20:4.9-4.el9_2
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstreamlibreswan-debugsourcebefore 0:4.9-4.el9_20:4.9-4.el9_2
Red Hat:openshift:4.16::el9libreswanbefore 0:4.6-3.el9_0.30:4.6-3.el9_0.3
Red Hat:openshift:4.16::el9libreswan-debuginfobefore 0:4.6-3.el9_0.30:4.6-3.el9_0.3
Red Hat:openshift:4.16::el9libreswan-debugsourcebefore 0:4.6-3.el9_0.30:4.6-3.el9_0.3
Rocky Linux:8libreswanbefore 0:4.9-3.el8_80:4.9-3.el8_8

Same product

libreswan: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2013-7283Race condition in the libreswan.spec files for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Fedora packages in libreswan 3.6 has unspecified impact a
    37Monitor
  • CVE-2022-23094Libreswan 4.2 through 4.5 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and daemon crash) via a crafted IKE
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2020-1763An out-of-bounds buffer read flaw was found in the pluto daemon of libreswan from versions 3.27 till 3.31 where, an unauthenticated attacker
    31Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2019-10155Jun 12, 2019 · The Libreswan Project has found a vulnerability in the processing of IKEv1 informational exchange packets which are encrypted and integrity
    12Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2023-23009Feb 21, 2023 · Libreswan 4.9 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (assert failure and daemon restart) via crafted TS payload with an incorr
    26Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2023-30570May 28, 2023 · pluto in Libreswan before 4.11 allows a denial of service (responder SPI mishandling and daemon crash) via unauthenticated IKEv1 Aggressive
    30Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
almalinux:libreswan4.9-3.el8_8 · AlmaLinux:8Package registry (OSV)
red hat:libreswan0:4.6-3.el9_0.3 · Red Hat:openshift:4.16::el9Package registry (OSV)
red hat:libreswan-debuginfo0:4.6-3.el9_0.3 · Red Hat:openshift:4.16::el9Package registry (OSV)
red hat:libreswan-debugsource0:4.6-3.el9_0.3 · Red Hat:openshift:4.16::el9Package registry (OSV)
rocky linux:libreswan0:4.9-3.el8_8 · Rocky Linux:8Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
none
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-400 · Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Root cause

Code that parses nested structures sets no depth or size limit. A small input can turn into a disproportionate processing load.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-400 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
function expand(node) {  return node.children.map(expand);}

Fixed

ts
const MAX_DEPTH = 32;function expand(node, depth = 0) {  if (depth > MAX_DEPTH) throw new Error("too deep");  return node.children.map((c) => expand(c, depth + 1));}

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (3 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records