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GrafanaApplication

CVE-2023-2801

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.4.12 / 9.5.3 or later.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
Grafana is an open-source platform for monitoring and observability. Using public dashboards users can query multiple distinct data sources using mixed queries. However such query has a possibility of crashing a Grafana instance. The only feature that uses mixed queries at the moment is public dashboards, but it's also possible to cause this by calling the query API directly. This might enable malicious users to crash Grafana instances through that endpoint. Users may upgrade to version 9.4.12 and 9.5.3 to receive a fix.

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

Grafana's public dashboards feature supports mixed queries that query multiple distinct data sources. A vulnerability allows attackers to craft malicious mixed queries that cause a denial of service by crashing the Grafana instance. The issue can be exploited either through the public dashboards interface or directly via the query API.

MitigationUpgrade Grafana to version 9.4.12 or 9.5.3 to patch the vulnerability. Consider restricting access to the query API for untrusted users as a compensating control.

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
GrafanaApplication
Affected:>= 9.4.0, < 9.4.12>= 9.5.0, < 9.5.3

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
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Check installed Grafana version
    Run 'grafana-server --version' or check the version from the Grafana logs or administrative UI. On Linux systems, also check '/usr/share/grafana/version' or the package manager.
    Affected if The version is 9.4.0 through 9.4.11, or 9.5.0 through 9.5.2.
  2. Verify public dashboards are accessible
    Check the Grafana configuration file (default grafana.ini) for 'public_dashboards' setting under [security] or [featureToggles]. Alternatively, navigate to Configuration > Features in the Grafana admin UI and verify if public dashboards are enabled.
    Affected if Public dashboards are enabled and the Grafana instance version is in the affected range.
  3. Check query API accessibility
    Review authentication and authorization settings for the Grafana API endpoints, particularly /api/ds/query and /api/queries. Verify if anonymous access is permitted or if untrusted users can access these endpoints.
    Affected if The query API is accessible to unauthenticated users or untrusted accounts, and the Grafana version is in the affected range.

A user is affected if their Grafana version falls within 9.4.0-9.4.11 or 9.5.0-9.5.2 AND either public dashboards are enabled or the query API is accessible to untrusted users.

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 9.4.12 / 9.5.3 or later
Fixed in 9.4.129.5.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Grafana to version 9.4.12 or 9.5.3 to patch the vulnerability. Consider restricting access to the query API for untrusted users as a compensating control.

Recommended fix High confidence

Grafana 9.4.12 or 9.5.3 (or latest 10.x stable)

  1. 1. Identify the current Grafana version using `grafana-cli --version` or checking the Grafana admin UI.
  2. 2. For Grafana versions >= 9.4.0 and < 9.4.12: Upgrade to version 9.4.12.
  3. 3. For Grafana versions >= 9.5.0 and < 9.5.3: Upgrade to version 9.5.3.
  4. 4. Alternatively, upgrade to the latest stable version (10.x) which also contains the fix.
  5. 5. After upgrading, verify the Grafana service is running and test that public dashboards function correctly.
Caveat Minor patch upgrade; review release notes for any minor behavioral changes in mixed query handling

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

Fix this in Grafana Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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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-2023-2801 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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