CVE-2023-22581
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 · uneditedWhite Rabbit Switch contains a vulnerability which makes it possible for an attacker to perform system commands under the context of the web application (the default installation makes the webserver run as the root user).
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 confidenceCommand injection vulnerability in White Rabbit Switch web interface allows attackers to execute arbitrary system commands. The critical severity is amplified by the default installation running the webserver as root, giving attackers immediate root-level code execution capabilities.
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<= 6.0.1CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 White Rabbit Switch productConfirm the device is a White Rabbit Switch from Home.cern. Check device documentation, label, or network discovery for the product name.Affected if Device is not a White Rabbit Switch from Home.cern, then not affected by this CVE.
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Check firmware versionAccess the device management interface or use SNMP/ssh to retrieve the current firmware version. Compare against the affected range: <= 6.0.1Affected if Firmware version is 6.0.1 or lower, the product is within the affected version range.
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Verify web interface is enabledCheck if the White Rabbit Switch web interface is accessible on the device. Attempt to reach the HTTP/HTTPS management portal.Affected if Web interface is disabled or not accessible, the command injection may not be exploitable despite being in an affected version.
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Check webserver process privilegesOn the device, inspect the process running the webserver (httpd, nginx, or similar) and verify the user it runs as. Look for processes running as UID 0 (root).Affected if Webserver runs as root (UID 0), attackers exploiting the command injection would gain immediate root-level code execution.
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Assess network exposureDetermine if the web management interface is accessible from untrusted networks. Check firewall rules, ACLs, or network segmentation around the device.Affected if Web interface is exposed to untrusted networks, the vulnerability is directly accessible to remote attackers.
A user is affected if they have a White Rabbit Switch with firmware version 6.0.1 or lower, the web interface is enabled and exposed, and the webserver runs as root.
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.
From vendor dataIf a vendor patch is unavailable, disable root privileges for the webserver process and implement strict input validation on all user-supplied parameters. Consider network segmentation to limit exposure.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-22581 — 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-2023-22581 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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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