dbcve.org
ConsulApplication · Hashicorp

CVE-2023-3518

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
82/100
Remediation priority · High
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
HashiCorp Consul and Consul Enterprise 1.16.0 when using JWT Auth for service mesh incorrectly allows/denies access regardless of service identities. Fixed in 1.16.1.

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

In Consul 1.16.0, the JWT authentication provider for service mesh incorrectly enforces access controls, allowing or denying access regardless of configured service identities. This breaks the intended service mesh access controls when JWT Auth is enabled.

MitigationUpgrade Consul to version 1.16.1 or later to resolve the JWT Auth access control bypass.

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
ConsulApplication
Affected:= 1.16.0

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
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

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 Consul version
    Run 'consul version' to obtain the installed Consul version
    Affected if Version displayed is exactly 1.16.0
  2. Verify JWT auth is enabled for service mesh
    Check Consul configuration files or run 'consul acl auth-method list' to list authentication methods, looking for JWT-type auth methods configured
    Affected if A JWT authentication method is configured in the environment
  3. Confirm service mesh usage
    Check for configured service intentions or service mesh entries using 'consul intention list' or 'consul configentries list -kind service-mesh'
    Affected if Service mesh (connect) features are in use with service identities configured
  4. Check for JWT auth method binding
    Inspect the JWT auth method configuration via 'consul acl auth-method read -name <method-name>' and verify if BindType includes service identities
    Affected if JWT auth method is bound to service identities but access control bypass is occurring

Environment is affected if running Consul version 1.16.0 with JWT authentication enabled for service mesh, where service identity-based access controls are being bypassed.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Consul to version 1.16.1 or later to resolve the JWT Auth access control bypass.

Recommended fix High confidence

Consul 1.16.1

  1. 1. Back up your current Consul configuration and data directory.
  2. 2. Upgrade Consul from version 1.16.0 to version 1.16.1 using your deployment method (e.g., package manager, Docker, or manual binary replacement).
  3. 3. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the Consul version with `consul version`.
  4. 4. Test JWT authentication for service mesh to confirm the privilege assignment issue is resolved.
  5. 5. Monitor Consul logs for any errors after the upgrade.

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

Fix this in Consul Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,040
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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-2023-3518 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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