CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2023-40545NVD status: Modified

PingFederate: Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2023-40545 is a critical-severity missing authentication for critical functionality vulnerability in PingFederate from Ping Identity, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected PingFederate versions: 11.3.0 through 11.3.2. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.93% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 61% of scored CVEs.

Patch this week

Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.

What to do

  1. Check which version of PingFederate you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
  2. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
Ping IdentityPingFederate11.3.0 through 11.3.2Not stated
Pingidentitypingfederate11.3.0 through 11.3.2Not stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 3.18.8HighCNA (pingidentity.com)
CVSS 3.19.8CriticalNVD

Official description

Authentication bypass when an OAuth2 Client is using client_secret_jwt as its authentication method on affected 11.3 versions via specially crafted requests.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality

The product does not perform any authentication for functionality that requires a provable user identity or consumes a significant amount of resources.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.
  • Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. For example, consider using libraries with authentication capabilities such as OpenSSL or the ESAPI Authenticator.
  • When storing data in the cloud (e.g., S3 buckets, Azure blobs, Google Cloud Storage, etc.), use the provider's controls to require strong authentication for users who should be allowed to access the data.

More Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality vulnerabilities (CWE-306)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other vulnerabilities in PingFederate

All PingFederate vulnerabilities

Recent Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality vulnerabilities

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