CVE-2023-28616
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in Stormshield Network Security (SNS) before 4.3.17, 4.4.x through 4.6.x before 4.6.4, and 4.7.x before 4.7.1. It affects user accounts for which the password has an equals sign or space character. The serverd process logs such passwords in cleartext, and potentially sends these logs to the Syslog component.
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 confidenceThe serverd process in Stormshield Network Security (SNS) logs user passwords in cleartext when those passwords contain an equals sign (=) or space character. These cleartext passwords may be transmitted to the Syslog component, creating a credential exposure vulnerability.
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>= 2.7.0, < 4.3.17>= 4.4.0, < 4.6.4= 4.7.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed SNS versionRun 'ns CLI' or check the web interface System > General > Version to obtain the firmware version numberAffected if The installed version falls within >= 2.7.0 and < 4.3.17, OR >= 4.4.0 and < 4.6.4, OR equals 4.7.0
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Verify Syslog is enabled and receiving serverd logsCheck the Syslog configuration in the SNS admin interface or via CLI to confirm Syslog export is activeAffected if Syslog is configured to forward logs from the serverd process to a remote syslog server or local storage
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Examine Syslog output for cleartext passwordsSearch syslog files or syslog server records for patterns containing 'password' or '=' or ' ' characters adjacent to user credential fields. Inspect /var/log/ directories if local logging is enabledAffected if Log entries contain readable password strings, particularly those containing equals signs or spaces in plain text
A user is affected if their SNS version is within the affected ranges AND Syslog forwarding is enabled, resulting in cleartext password exposure in logs.
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 · scoped4.3.174.6.4
Update SNS to version 4.3.17, 4.6.4, or 4.7.1 or later. Review syslog and local logs for any exposed credentials and rotate passwords for affected accounts as a precaution.
Upgrade to SNS 4.3.17, 4.6.4, or 4.7.1 (whichever branch is applicable) - prefer 4.7.1 for latest fixes
- Identify the current installed version of Stormshield Network Security (SNS)
- For versions >= 2.7.0 and < 4.3.17: upgrade to version 4.3.17 or later
- For versions >= 4.4.0 and < 4.6.4: upgrade to version 4.6.4 or later
- For version 4.7.0: upgrade to version 4.7.1 or later
- After upgrade, verify that passwords containing equals signs or spaces are no longer logged in cleartext
- Review Syslog configuration to ensure no cleartext password leakage occurs
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-28616 — 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-2023-28616 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
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