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SplunkApplication

CVE-2023-22940

MEDIUM · 5.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-02-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.1.13 / 8.2.10 or later.
See remediation →
61/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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 · unedited
In Splunk Enterprise versions below 8.1.13, 8.2.10, and 9.0.4, aliases of the ‘collect’ search processing language (SPL) command, including ‘summaryindex’, ‘sumindex’, ‘stash’,’ mcollect’, and ‘meventcollect’, were not designated as safeguarded commands. The commands could potentially allow for the exposing of data to a summary index that unprivileged users could access. The vulnerability requires a higher privileged user to initiate a request within their browser, and only affects instances with Splunk Web enabled.

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 · high confidence

In Splunk Enterprise versions before 8.1.13, 8.2.10, and 9.0.4, aliases of the 'collect' SPL command (summaryindex, sumindex, stash, mcollect, meventcollect) were not designated as safeguarded commands. This allowed potentially unprivileged users to access data collected into summary indexes by higher-privileged users initiating requests within their browser, but only on instances with Splunk Web enabled.

MitigationUpgrade Splunk Enterprise to version 8.1.13, 8.2.10, 9.0.4 or later to receive the patch that designates these commands as safeguarded. Alternatively, disable Splunk Web if not required.

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
SplunkApplication
Affected:>= 8.1.0, < 8.1.13>= 8.2.0, < 8.2.10>= 9.0.0, < 9.0.4
Splunk Cloud PlatformApplication
Affected:< 9.0.2209.3

CVSS 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
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Splunk Enterprise version
    Run the command: splunk version or inspect $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/splunk.version
    Affected if The version is < 8.1.13, or >= 8.2.0 and < 8.2.10, or >= 9.0.0 and < 9.0.4
  2. Verify Splunk Web is enabled
    Check the configuration file $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/default/server.conf for the setting enableSplunkWeb = 1, or check in Splunk Web settings under Settings > Server settings > General settings
    Affected if Splunk Web is enabled (enableSplunkWeb is not set to 0 or disabled)
  3. Check for summary index data access
    Run a search query using one of the affected command aliases: | summaryindex ... or | stash ... or | mcollect ... to see if data from summary indexes created by other users is accessible
    Affected if Unprivileged users can retrieve summary index data created by higher-privileged users without proper authorization

You are affected if your Splunk version is in the vulnerable range AND Splunk Web is enabled, allowing unprivileged users to access summary index data via the unsafeguarded collect command aliases.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 8.1.13 / 8.2.10 / 9.0.4 or later
Fixed in 8.1.138.2.109.0.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Splunk Enterprise to version 8.1.13, 8.2.10, 9.0.4 or later to receive the patch that designates these commands as safeguarded. Alternatively, disable Splunk Web if not required.

Recommended fix High confidence

Splunk Enterprise: 8.1.13, 8.2.10, or 9.0.4 (or later); Splunk Cloud Platform: 9.0.2209.3 or later

  1. 1. Identify current Splunk Enterprise version by navigating to Settings > About > Version in Splunk Web, or running: splunk version
  2. 2. Determine target upgrade version based on current release: if 8.1.x upgrade to 8.1.13; if 8.2.x upgrade to 8.2.10; if 9.0.x upgrade to 9.0.4 or later
  3. 3. For Splunk Cloud customers, verify with Splunk support that the platform is updated to version 9.0.2209.3 or later
  4. 4. Review Splunk Upgrade Planning documentation at docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Installation/PlanYourUpgrade
  5. 5. Test upgrade in a non-production environment before deploying to production
  6. 6. Create a backup of Splunk Enterprise configuration: $SPLUNK_HOME/bin/splunk backup 'full'
  7. 7. Download the appropriate installer from splunk.com/download
  8. 8. Perform the upgrade following Splunk's standard upgrade procedure
Caveat Standard Splunk upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for any functionality changes between your current and target version before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Splunk Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-22940 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data