NVD / CVE Program· CNA HashiCorp

CVE-2023-4782: Terraform Allows Arbitrary File Write During Init Operation

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 31/100)

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: 0.26% (FIRST EPSS).
Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
Fixed version: HashiCorp Terraform 1.5.7.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to HashiCorp Terraform 1.5.7 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

Terraform version 1.0.8 through 1.5.6 allows arbitrary file write during the `init` operation if run on maliciously crafted Terraform configuration. This vulnerability is fixed in Terraform 1.5.7.

HighCVSS 7.8 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Path traversal

Published: Sep 8, 2023
Updated: Jun 17, 2026
EPSS: 0.2% · 18th percentile
CWE: CWE-22

Report tools

JSON

Action score

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS: 31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
CISA KEV: 0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS: 0 / 30 · 0.2%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation: none
Automatable: no
Technical impact: partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD: 7.8
CNA · HashiCorp: 6.3; 1.5 point gap

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

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

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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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.

Vendor	Product	CPE
hashicorp	terraform	cpe:2.3:a:hashicorp:terraform

Affected versions

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

hashicorp terraform1.0.8 and later · before 1.5.7

Versions reported by the vendor

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

HashiCorp Terraform
- 1.0.8 and later · before 1.5.7affected · semver

Package-level exposure

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

Ecosystem	Package	Affected range	Fix
Go	github.com/hashicorp/terraform	from 1.0.8 · before 1.5.7	1.5.7

Same product

hashicorp: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

CVE-2018-9057aws/resource_aws_iam_user_login_profile.go in the HashiCorp Terraform Amazon Web Services (AWS) provider through v1.12.0 has an inappropriat
40Plan
CVE-2021-36230HashiCorp Terraform Enterprise releases up to v202106-1 did not properly perform authorization checks on a subset of API requests executed u
35Monitor
CVE-2019-19316When using the Azure backend with a shared access signature (SAS), Terraform versions prior to 0.12.17 may transmit the token and state snap
30Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

Later →CVE-2025-13432Nov 21, 2025 · Terraform Enterprise state versions can be created by users with specific permissions without sufficient write access
17Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

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

Product / package	Fixed version	Source
HashiCorp Terraform	1.5.7	Vendor (CNA)
Go:github.com/hashicorp/terraform	1.5.7	Package 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

Someone with local access to the system 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: high · data can be read
Integrity: high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability: high · the service can be disrupted

Attack vector: Local
Attack complexity: Low
Privileges required: Low
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality impact: High
Integrity impact: High
Availability impact: High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Root cause

A user-supplied file name is joined with the allowed directory, but the result is never checked to confirm it is still inside that directory.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-22 class

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

Vulnerable

1const file = path.join(ROOT, req.query.name);
2res.sendFile(file);

Fixed

1const file = path.resolve(ROOT, req.query.name);
2if (!file.startsWith(ROOT + path.sep)) {
3  return res.sendStatus(400);
4}
5res.sendFile(file);

Attack context

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

Attack patterns (CAPEC)

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

Fix✗ → ✓Sep 28, 2026, 10:08 PM UTC

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References

discuss.hashicorp.com/t/hcsec-2023-27-terraform-allows-arbitrary-file-write-during-init-operation/58082

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

All records