CVE-2023-0248
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedAn attacker with physical access to the Kantech Gen1 ioSmart card reader with firmware version prior to 1.07.02 in certain circumstances can recover the reader's communication memory between the card and reader.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceThe Kantech Gen1 ioSmart card reader with firmware versions prior to 1.07.02 contains a vulnerability where an attacker with physical access can recover the communication memory between the card and reader, potentially exposing card data or session information.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 1.07.02CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify ioSmart Gen1 card readers in your environmentPhysically inspect card readers at access control points or review inventory/asset management records for Kantech ioSmart Gen1 or Johnson Controls ioSmart Gen 1 card readersAffected if Your environment contains deployed Kantech Gen1 ioSmart card readers
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Determine the firmware version of each ioSmart readerConnect to the ioSmart reader via its management interface (typically through the associated access control panel or dedicated configuration software) and retrieve the firmware version informationAffected if Firmware version cannot be determined or the reader is unreachable for version check
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Compare installed firmware to affected version rangeCheck if the firmware version is lower than 1.07.02. Compare your retrieved version number against the vulnerable range: versions prior to 1.07.02Affected if Firmware version is below 1.07.02 (for example, 1.06.x, 1.05.x, etc.)
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Assess physical access controls to readersEvaluate whether card readers are located in areas with unrestricted physical access. Document the physical security measures in place (locked enclosures, surveillance, restricted areas)Affected if Readers are in publicly accessible or unsecured locations, increasing exploit feasibility
You are affected if your environment has deployed Kantech Gen1 ioSmart card readers running firmware versions prior to 1.07.02 and those readers have any physical accessibility to potential attackers.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped1.07.02
Update all affected ioSmart card readers to firmware version 1.07.02 or later. Restrict physical access to card readers and monitor for unauthorized physical tampering.
Firmware version 1.07.02
- Identify the current firmware version of the Kantech Gen1 ioSmart card reader
- Obtain firmware version 1.07.02 or later from the official Johnson Controls/Kantech vendor source
- Follow the vendor's documented firmware update procedure to apply the new firmware to the ioSmart Gen 1 reader
- Verify the firmware has been successfully updated to version 1.07.02 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,304.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-0248 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-0248 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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