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Caton PrimeApplication · Catontechnology

CVE-2023-2520

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
A vulnerability was found in Caton Prime 2.1.2.51.e8d7225049(202303031001) and classified as critical. This issue affects some unknown processing of the file cgi-bin/tools_ping.cgi?action=Command of the component Ping Handler. The manipulation of the argument Destination leads to command injection. The attack may be initiated remotely. The associated identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-228011. NOTE: The vendor was contacted early about this disclosure but did not respond in any way.

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

Command injection vulnerability in Caton Prime's Ping Handler CGI script (tools_ping.cgi). The 'Destination' parameter passed to the 'action=Command' endpoint is not properly sanitized, allowing remote attackers to inject arbitrary OS commands via the ping utility input validation flaw.

MitigationIf the CGI script is not essential, disable or restrict network access to it. Otherwise, implement strict input validation on the Destination parameter to only allow valid IP addresses or hostnames, stripping any shell metacharacters.

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
Caton PrimeApplication
Affected:= 2.1.2.51.e8d7225049\(202303031001\)

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
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 checks

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

  1. Verify Caton Prime version
    Locate and read the version information file or use the product's built-in version check command. Common locations include system info pages, about sections, or version files in the installation directory.
    Affected if The installed version matches 2.1.2.51.e8d7225049 (202303031001)
  2. Locate tools_ping.cgi script
    Search for the tools_ping.cgi file in the web server's CGI or cgi-bin directory, typically under the web root or /cgi-bin/ path.
    Affected if The tools_ping.cgi script exists in the web-accessible CGI directory
  3. Confirm script is web-accessible
    Test HTTP access to the tools_ping.cgi endpoint by attempting to reach it via the web server's URL (e.g., http://[host]/cgi-bin/tools_ping.cgi or similar path).
    Affected if The CGI script responds to HTTP requests and is reachable over the network
  4. Check if action=Command endpoint is exposed
    Send a request to the CGI script with the action=Command parameter to verify the vulnerable endpoint is active (e.g., GET /cgi-bin/tools_ping.cgi?action=Command).
    Affected if The script accepts the action=Command parameter and processes it
  5. Verify Destination parameter is accepted
    Send a request with a test value in the Destination parameter to confirm the ping handler accepts user input without immediate rejection.
    Affected if The Destination parameter is processed by the ping handler functionality

A user is affected if they are running Caton Prime version 2.1.2.51.e8d7225049 and the tools_ping.cgi script with the action=Command endpoint is accessible and processes the Destination parameter.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

If the CGI script is not essential, disable or restrict network access to it. Otherwise, implement strict input validation on the Destination parameter to only allow valid IP addresses or hostnames, stripping any shell metacharacters.

Fix this in Caton Prime Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2023-2520 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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