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Netbox DockerApplication · Netboxlabs

CVE-2023-27573

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.5.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
netbox-docker before 2.5.0 has a superuser account with default credentials (admin password for the admin account, and 0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef01234567 value for SUPERUSER_API_TOKEN). In practice on the public Internet, almost all users changed the password but only about 90% changed the token. Having a default token value was intentional and was valuable for the main intended use case of the netbox-docker product (isolated development networks). Some users engaged in an effort to repurpose netbox-docker for production. The documentation for this effort stated that the defaults must not be used. However, installation did not ensure non-default values. The Supplier was aware of the CVE ID assignment and did not object to the assignment.

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

netbox-docker before 2.5.0 shipped with a default superuser account (admin) and a default SUPERUSER_API_TOKEN value of '0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef01234567'. While most users changed the default admin password, approximately 10% retained the default API token, allowing unauthenticated attackers to gain full administrative access to the NetBox instance.

MitigationImmediately change the SUPERUSER_API_TOKEN to a unique, cryptographically secure value in configuration and rotate the admin password if still using defaults. Upgrade to netbox-docker 2.5.0 or later which addresses this issue.

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
Netbox DockerApplication
Affected:< 2.5.0

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
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. Identify netbox-docker version
    Check the installed netbox-docker version by inspecting the Docker image tag, docker-compose.yml version field, or the NetBox UI footer which displays the version. Compare against the affected range: versions before 2.5.0
    Affected if The installed version is netbox-docker and is earlier than 2.5.0
  2. Locate SUPERUSER_API_TOKEN configuration
    Search Docker environment variables, .env files, docker-compose.yml, or any NetBox configuration files for the SUPERUSER_API_TOKEN setting
    Affected if A SUPERUSER_API_TOKEN setting exists in the configuration
  3. Compare token to default value
    Examine the SUPERUSER_API_TOKEN value and compare it exactly to the default value: 0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef01234567
    Affected if The SUPERUSER_API_TOKEN matches the default value '0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef01234567'

A user is affected if they are running netbox-docker versions before 2.5.0 AND the SUPERUSER_API_TOKEN configuration is still set to the default value, allowing unauthenticated administrative access.

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 2.5.0 or later
Fixed in 2.5.0
Vendor patch github.com →
Interim mitigation

Immediately change the SUPERUSER_API_TOKEN to a unique, cryptographically secure value in configuration and rotate the admin password if still using defaults. Upgrade to netbox-docker 2.5.0 or later which addresses this issue.

Recommended fix High confidence

2.5.0

  1. Pull the fixed netbox-docker image version 2.5.0 or later from Docker Hub
  2. Review the upgrade documentation and release notes at https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox-docker/releases
  3. During deployment or upgrade, set custom values for SUPERUSER_PASSWORD and SUPERUSER_API_TOKEN environment variables
  4. If upgrading from a previous version, audit and regenerate any API tokens that may still be using the default value (0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef01234567)
  5. Verify that the default superuser account credentials have been changed from defaults before exposing the instance to the network

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

Fix this in Netbox Docker Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

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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-2023-27573 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