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NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

CVE-2023-38710: An issue was discovered in Libreswan before 4.12.

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 26/100)

  • 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: 0.81% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 57.2% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: libreswan (AlmaLinux:8) 4.12-2.el8; libreswan (AlmaLinux:9) 4.12-1.el9; libreswan (Alpine:v3.19) 4.12-r0.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to libreswan (AlmaLinux:8) 4.12-2.el8; libreswan (AlmaLinux:9) 4.12-1.el9; libreswan (Alpine:v3.19) 4.12-r0 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

An issue was discovered in Libreswan before 4.12. When an IKEv2 Child SA REKEY packet contains an invalid IPsec protocol ID number of 0 or 1, an error notify INVALID_SPI is sent back. The notify payload's protocol ID is copied from the incoming packet, but the code that verifies outgoing packets fails an assertion that the protocol ID must be ESP (2) or AH(3) and causes the pluto daemon to crash and restart. NOTE: the earliest affected version is 3.20.

MediumCVSS 6.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Aug 25, 2023
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
0.8% · 57th percentile
CWE
—

Report tools

JSON

Action score

26

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
26 / 40 · 6.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.8%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
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.

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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

Affected versions

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

  • libreswan libreswan3.20 and later · before 4.12

Package-level exposure

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

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
AlmaLinux:8libreswanbefore 4.12-2.el84.12-2.el8
AlmaLinux:9libreswanbefore 4.12-1.el94.12-1.el9
Alpine:v3.19libreswanfrom 3.20 · before 4.12-r04.12-r0
Debian:12libreswanfrom 0—
Debian:13libreswanbefore 4.12-14.12-1
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstreamlibreswanbefore 0:4.12-2.el80:4.12-2.el8
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstreamlibreswan-debuginfobefore 0:4.12-2.el80:4.12-2.el8
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstreamlibreswan-debugsourcebefore 0:4.12-2.el80:4.12-2.el8
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstreamlibreswanbefore 0:4.12-1.el90:4.12-1.el9
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstreamlibreswan-debuginfobefore 0:4.12-1.el90:4.12-1.el9
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstreamlibreswan-debugsourcebefore 0:4.12-1.el90:4.12-1.el9
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
Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.2::appstreamlibreswanbefore 0:4.9-5.el9_2.40:4.9-5.el9_2.4
Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.2::appstreamlibreswan-debuginfobefore 0:4.9-5.el9_2.40:4.9-5.el9_2.4
Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.2::appstreamlibreswan-debugsourcebefore 0:4.9-5.el9_2.40:4.9-5.el9_2.4
Rocky Linux:8libreswanbefore 0:4.12-2.el8_10.30:4.12-2.el8_10.3

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-2023-2295May 17, 2023 · A vulnerability was found in the libreswan library.
    30Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-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
  • Later →CVE-2023-38711Aug 25, 2023 · An issue was discovered in Libreswan before 4.12.
    26Monitor

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:libreswan4.12-1.el9 · AlmaLinux:9Package registry (OSV)
alpine:libreswan4.12-r0 · Alpine:v3.19Package registry (OSV)
debian:libreswan4.12-1 · Debian:13Package 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:libreswan0:4.12-2.el8_10.3 · 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.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

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.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • 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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

—

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Attack context

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

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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

References

Show all references (1 more)

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

All records