OpensearchApplication · Amazon
CVE-2023-23612
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 · uneditedOpenSearch is an open source distributed and RESTful search engine. OpenSearch uses JWTs to store role claims obtained from the Identity Provider (IdP) when the authentication backend is SAML or OpenID Connect. There is an issue in how those claims are processed from the JWTs where the leading and trailing whitespace is trimmed, allowing users to potentially claim roles they are not assigned to if any role matches the whitespace-stripped version of the roles they are a member of. This issue is only present for authenticated users, and it requires either the existence of roles that match, not considering leading/trailing whitespace, or the ability for users to create said matching roles. In addition, the Identity Provider must allow leading and trailing spaces in role names. OpenSearch 1.0.0-1.3.7 and 2.0.0-2.4.1 are affected. Users are advised to upgrade to OpenSearch 1.3.8 or 2.5.0. There are no known workarounds for this issue.
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 confidenceOpenSearch incorrectly trims leading and trailing whitespace from JWT role claims when processing authentication via SAML or OpenID Connect. This allows authenticated users to claim roles they aren't assigned to if a role exists that matches the whitespace-stripped version of their actual role names, provided the Identity Provider permits spaces in role names.
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
OpensearchApplication
>= 1.0.0, < 1.3.8>= 2.0.0, < 2.5.0CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 OpenSearch installation and versionRun the command: curl -s https://<opensearch-host>:9200/ | grep version or check via package manager/opensearch.ymlAffected if The installed version is >=1.0.0 and <1.3.8, or >=2.0.0 and <2.5.0
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Verify SAML or OIDC authentication is configuredCheck the opensearch.yml configuration file for plugins.security.authcz.* and plugins.security.configdpm or look for saml or oidc in the security configurationAffected if SAML or OpenID Connect authentication backends are configured and active
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Review JWT role claim configurationInspect the OpenSearch security plugin settings for roles_jwt or roles_key configuration, typically found in config.yml or via the _plugins/security/api/securityconfig endpointAffected if JWT role claims are being parsed from SAML/OIDC tokens without additional validation
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Audit existing role names for whitespaceQuery the internal user database: curl -s -u admin:<password> 'https://<opensearch-host>:9200/_plugins/security/roles' and examine role names for leading or trailing spacesAffected if Any role names contain leading or trailing whitespace characters
You are affected if OpenSearch version falls within the vulnerable ranges AND SAML/OIDC authentication is enabled with JWT role claim mapping, especially if role names with whitespace exist in your IdP or internal role store.
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 · scoped1.3.82.5.0
Upgrade OpenSearch to version 1.3.8 or 2.5.0 to remediate this vulnerability; no workarounds are available.
OpenSearch 1.3.8 for 1.x branches; OpenSearch 2.5.0 for 2.x branches
- For OpenSearch 1.x users: Upgrade to OpenSearch version 1.3.8
- For OpenSearch 2.x users: Upgrade to OpenSearch version 2.5.0
- After upgrade, verify that SAML/OpenID Connect authentication with role claims functions correctly
- Verify that users can only access roles explicitly assigned to them in the IdP
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Opensearch
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $4,480.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-23612 — 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-2023-23612 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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