CVE-2023-29261
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 · uneditedIBM Sterling Secure Proxy 6.0.3 and 6.1.0 could allow a local user with specific information about the system to obtain privileged information due to inadequate memory clearing during operations. IBM X-Force ID: 252139.
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 confidenceIBM Sterling Secure Proxy versions 6.0.3 and 6.1.0 contain a vulnerability where local users with specific system knowledge can obtain privileged information due to inadequate memory clearing during operations. This allows sensitive data to potentially remain accessible in memory after processing.
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= 6.0.3.0= 6.1.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 if IBM Sterling External Authentication Server is installedLook for the installation directory (commonly under /opt/ibm or C:\Program Files\IBM), check for process running 'Sterling External Authentication Server' or associated services, or search for common install paths like /opt/ibm/sterling-aas or C:\IBM\SterlingAASAffected if The software is not installed on the system, the vulnerability does not apply
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Determine the installed version of IBM Sterling External Authentication ServerCheck the version file in the installation directory, typically found in a version.properties, about.html, or run the product version command if available. Common locations: <install_dir>/products/aas/version.txt or <install_dir>/version.datAffected if The installed version is exactly 6.0.3.0 or 6.1.0; other versions are not affected by this specific CVE
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Verify the service is runningCheck if the Sterling External Authentication Server service or process is active. On Linux/Unix: ps aux | grep -i sterling or systemctl status ster*aas. On Windows: check Services console for 'IBM Sterling External Authentication Server' or tasklist for related processesAffected if The service is not running, the vulnerability cannot be exploited as there is no active session to extract memory from
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Confirm local access to the systemVerify that untrusted local users have shell or console access to the system where the software runs. Check system user accounts, SSH access, or terminal access permissionsAffected if Only trusted administrators have local access, the attack surface for this local privilege escalation is reduced but the vulnerable code still exists in the affected versions
The system is affected if IBM Sterling External Authentication Server version 6.0.3.0 or 6.1.0 is installed and running, and untrusted local users can access the system terminal or shell.
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.
From vendor dataApply IBM patches for this vulnerability when available. Until then, restrict local access to the system and ensure proper access controls are in place to limit exposure to privileged information.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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-2023-29261 — 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-2023-29261 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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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.
- 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