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OpensearchApplication · Amazon

CVE-2023-25806

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.3.9 / 2.6.0 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
OpenSearch Security is a plugin for OpenSearch that offers encryption, authentication and authorization. There is an observable discrepancy in the authentication response time between calls where the user provided exists and calls where it does not. This issue only affects calls using the internal basic identity provider (IdP), and not other externally configured IdPs. Patches were released in versions 1.3.9 and 2.6.0, there are no workarounds.

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

OpenSearch Security plugin has a timing side-channel vulnerability in the internal basic identity provider. Authentication requests for existing users take measurably different time than requests for non-existing users, allowing username enumeration via timing attacks.

MitigationUpgrade OpenSearch Security plugin to version 1.3.9 or 2.6.0. No workarounds are available.

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
Affected:< 1.3.9>= 2.0.0, < 2.6.0
Opensearch SecurityApplication
Affected:< 1.3.9>= 2.0.0, < 2.6.0

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
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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. Verify OpenSearch version
    Check the installed OpenSearch version via the OpenSearch dashboard (click on the logo shows version) or by querying the _cluster/state API or checking the opensearch-node process binary version
    Affected if Version is less than 1.3.9 OR between 2.0.0 and 2.6.0 (excluding 2.6.0)
  2. Identify OpenSearch Security plugin version
    Query the _plugins/security API endpoint or check the plugins directory on each node for the security plugin version
    Affected if Security plugin version is less than 1.3.9 OR between 2.0.0 and 2.6.0 (excluding 2.6.0)
  3. Confirm Security plugin is enabled
    Verify the Security plugin is active by checking if _plugins/security returns a valid response, or confirm security configuration files exist in the config directory
    Affected if Security plugin is installed and active (default in Amazon OpenSearch)
  4. Check if internal basic identity provider is in use
    Review the internal_user_database setting in the Security plugin configuration (config.yml or via _plugins/security/authinfo API). Also check if basic authentication is configured in the authentication chain.
    Affected if internal_user_database is enabled or basic auth is configured to use the internal identity provider (this is the default configuration)

You are affected if you are running any OpenSearch or OpenSearch Security plugin version in the ranges < 1.3.9 OR >= 2.0.0 and < 2.6.0, and the Security plugin with internal basic authentication is enabled (default configuration).

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 1.3.9 / 2.6.0 or later
Fixed in 1.3.92.6.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade OpenSearch Security plugin to version 1.3.9 or 2.6.0. No workarounds are available.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.3.9 for OpenSearch 1.x branches; 2.6.0 for OpenSearch 2.x branches

  1. 1. Determine current OpenSearch version by checking the cluster or nodes endpoint
  2. 2. If running OpenSearch 1.x (e.g., 1.3.8 or lower), upgrade to version 1.3.9
  3. 3. If running OpenSearch 2.x (e.g., 2.0.0-2.5.x), upgrade to version 2.6.0
  4. 4. Ensure OpenSearch Security plugin version matches the OpenSearch server version (both must be upgraded together)
  5. 5. Test the upgrade in a staging environment before deploying to production
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify authentication works correctly with the internal basic IdP
Caveat Review OpenSearch 1.3.9 and 2.6.0 release notes for any breaking changes; ensure Security plugin version aligns exactly with OpenSearch server version

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

Fix this in Opensearch Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.

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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-2023-25806 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