CVE-2023-23450
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 · uneditedUse of Password Hash Instead of Password for Authentication in SICK FTMg AIR FLOW SENSOR with Partnumbers 1100214, 1100215, 1100216, 1120114, 1120116, 1122524, 1122526 allows an unprivileged remote attacker to use a password hash instead of an actual password to login to a valid user account via the REST interface.
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 confidenceThe SICK FTMg AIR FLOW sensor devices accept password hashes as valid authentication credentials via their REST interface. An unauthenticated remote attacker who obtains a password hash (through techniques such as sniffing, database extraction, or brute-force) can use that hash directly as a password to authenticate as any valid user account, bypassing the need to crack the hash or obtain the plaintext password.
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< 2.0< 2.0< 2.0< 2.0< 2.0< 2.0< 2.0CVSS 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 the SICK FTMg device modelLocate the device nameplate or check the device documentation/web interface for the exact model number (e.g., Esd20axx, Esn40sxx, Esr50sxx, etc.)Affected if The model matches one of the affected variants: Esd20axx, Esd25axx, Esn40sxx, Esn50sxx, Esr50sxx, Esr40sxx, or Esd15axx
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Determine the installed firmware versionAccess the device web interface or REST API and check the firmware version information, typically found in the system status or about pageAffected if The firmware version is below 2.0 (e.g., 1.x.x or any version number less than 2.0)
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Verify REST interface accessibilityCheck if the device REST interface is reachable over the network by attempting to access the API endpoint (typically port 80/443) or reviewing network firewall rulesAffected if The REST interface is exposed to the network and accessible from untrusted segments
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Confirm password hash authentication behaviorTest the authentication mechanism by attempting to authenticate with a known password hash (as opposed to plaintext password) via the REST API login endpointAffected if The device accepts a password hash as a valid credential and grants access without requiring the plaintext password to be cracked
You are affected if you have a SICK FTMg device from the affected model list running firmware version below 2.0 with its REST interface accessible on the network.
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 · scoped2.0
Apply vendor firmware updates when available, restrict network access to the device's REST interface using firewalls or VLANs, and monitor for unauthorized access attempts. If no patch is available, consider network isolation and disabling remote REST access.
Firmware version 2.0 or later
- 1. Identify the exact part number of your SICK FTMg AIR FLOW SENSOR from the affected list (1100214, 1100215, 1100216, 1120114, 1120116, 1122524, 1122526)
- 2. Check the current firmware version of your device through the SICK configuration interface or documentation
- 3. Contact SICK technical support to obtain the firmware version 2.0 or later which contains the security fix
- 4. Follow SICK's official firmware update procedure documented in the device manual or provided by technical support
- 5. After upgrade, verify the firmware version has been successfully updated
- 6. After applying the firmware update, change all user passwords as a precautionary measure since the vulnerability exposed password hashes
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-23450 — 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-2023-23450 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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