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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 16 Dec 2024. Known ransomware use
Arrayos AgOperating system · Arraynetworks

CVE-2023-28461

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 9.4.0.481 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Ransomware High EPSS 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
Array Networks Array AG Series and vxAG (9.4.0.481 and earlier) allow remote code execution. An attacker can browse the filesystem on the SSL VPN gateway using a flags attribute in an HTTP header without authentication. The product could then be exploited through a vulnerable URL. The 2023-03-09 vendor advisory stated "a new Array AG release with the fix will be available soon."

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 confidence

Array Networks Array AG Series and vxAG SSL VPN (versions 9.4.0.481 and earlier) contains an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability. Attackers can browse the filesystem on the SSL VPN gateway by including a flags attribute in an HTTP header without any authentication, then exploit a vulnerable URL to achieve full RCE.

MitigationApply the vendor patch when released; in the interim, restrict network access to the SSL VPN gateway from untrusted networks and implement additional authentication layers or network segmentation to reduce exposure.

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
Arrayos AgOperating system
Affected:<= 9.4.0.481

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 if Array AG SSL VPN is present
    Check your network for Array Networks Array AG Series or vxAG SSL VPN gateways. Look for devices responding on typical SSL VPN ports (443, 4443) with Array Networks login pages or certificates.
    Affected if Array AG or vxAG SSL VPN is installed and running in the environment
  2. Check installed firmware version
    Log into the Array AG admin console or check the firmware version via CLI command 'get system-info' or 'show version'. Compare the version number to the affected range: 9.4.0.481 and earlier.
    Affected if The installed version is 9.4.0.481 or any version lower than 9.4.0.481
  3. Verify management interface exposure
    Determine if the SSL VPN management interface is accessible from untrusted networks. Check firewall rules and network ACLs allowing direct access to the VPN admin portal from the internet or external networks.
    Affected if The management interface is exposed to untrusted networks without proper access restrictions
  4. Inspect for the flags header vulnerability
    Send an HTTP request to the SSL VPN login page with a custom 'flags' header (for example: 'flags=1' or similar) and observe if the response bypasses authentication or returns unusual filesystem access. Example: curl -H 'flags: 1' https://vpn-host/
    Affected if The server responds to requests with a flags header in a way that bypasses normal authentication checks
  5. Check for indicators of exploitation in logs
    Review SSL VPN access logs and system logs for unusual requests to administrative endpoints, particularly requests with non-standard headers, multiple failed auth attempts followed by successful unauthenticated access, or access to internal paths. Look for the second vulnerable URL used in the RCE chain.
    Affected if Logs show unauthenticated access patterns, suspicious headers, or requests to internal paths that should require authentication

A user is affected if they have an Array AG SSL VPN gateway running version 9.4.0.481 or earlier with its management interface exposed to network 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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 9.4.0.481
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch when released; in the interim, restrict network access to the SSL VPN gateway from untrusted networks and implement additional authentication layers or network segmentation to reduce exposure.

Fix this in Arrayos Ag Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
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  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2023-28461 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