CVE-2023-25594
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in the web-based management interface of ClearPass Policy Manager allows an attacker with read-only privileges to perform actions that change the state of the ClearPass Policy Manager instance. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows an attacker to complete state-changing actions in the web-based management interface that should not be allowed by their current level of authorization on the platform.
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 confidenceClearPass Policy Manager contains an authorization bypass vulnerability in its web-based management interface. A user with read-only privileges can trigger state-changing administrative actions that should be restricted to higher-privilege accounts. The vulnerability allows privilege escalation through the web interface by exploiting insufficient authorization checks on certain API endpoints or functions.
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>= 6.9.0, <= 6.9.13>= 6.10.0, <= 6.10.8= 6.11.0= 6.11.1CVSS 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
- 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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Determine installed ClearPass Policy Manager versionAccess the ClearPass Policy Manager web interface and navigate to Administration > About, or use the CLI command 'show version' to retrieve the installed software versionAffected if The installed version falls within 6.9.0-6.9.13, 6.10.0-6.10.8, 6.11.0, or 6.11.1
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Verify management interface accessibilityConfirm whether the ClearPass Policy Manager web-based management interface is reachable on the network and accessible to usersAffected if The management interface is exposed to untrusted networks or users outside the administrative team
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Identify read-only accountsReview user accounts in the ClearPass Policy Manager by navigating to Configuration > Authentication > Local Users or using the administrative API to list all user accounts and their assigned rolesAffected if Read-only user accounts exist in the system
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Audit for administrative actions by read-only usersReview ClearPass Policy Manager audit logs and system logs for state-changing administrative operations performed by users assigned read-only rolesAffected if Any administrative configuration changes were performed by accounts with read-only privileges
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Inspect API endpoint access patternsExamine access logs for the ClearPass Policy Manager API endpoints, specifically looking for requests to administrative functions originating from read-only user sessionsAffected if API requests to administrative or state-changing endpoints were made using read-only user credentials
A user is affected if ClearPass Policy Manager is running an affected version (6.9.x between 6.9.0-6.9.13, 6.10.x between 6.10.0-6.10.8, or 6.11.0/6.11.1) and read-only users have been able to perform administrative actions through the web interface.
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 · scopedApply the vendor-supplied patch for ClearPass Policy Manager. Until patched, restrict access to the management interface to trusted users only and monitor for unauthorized configuration changes.
6.9.14+ / 6.10.9+ / 6.11.2+ (latest stable 6.11.x release recommended)
- Identify the current Clearpass Policy Manager version in use
- Backup current configuration and data
- Download the appropriate fixed version from Aruba Networks support portal
- For 6.9.x branch: upgrade to 6.9.14 or later
- For 6.10.x branch: upgrade to 6.10.9 or later
- For 6.11.x branch: upgrade to 6.11.2 or later
- Apply the upgrade following Aruba's standard upgrade procedures
- Verify the upgrade was successful and test that authorization controls work correctly
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 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-2023-25594 — 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-2023-25594 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data