CVE-2023-35888
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 Security Verify Governance 10.0.2 could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information, caused by the failure to properly enable HTTP Strict Transport Security. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to obtain sensitive information using man in the middle techniques. IBM X-Force ID: 258375.
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 confidenceIBM Security Verify Governance 10.0.2 fails to properly enable HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), allowing attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks to intercept communications and obtain sensitive information.
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= 10.0.2CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/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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Verify IBM Security Verify Governance versionCheck installed version by accessing the product's about page, admin console, or running: docker ps (if containerized) to confirm version 10.0.2 is runningAffected if Version is exactly 10.0.2
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Inspect HTTP response headers for HSTSSend an HTTPS request to the IBM Security Verify Governance endpoint (e.g., curl -I https://<hostname>/) and examine the response headers for the Strict-Transport-Security headerAffected if The Strict-Transport-Security header is missing from HTTPS responses, or max-age is set to 0 or an insufficient value
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Check web server configuration for HSTS directivesExamine the web server configuration (IBM HTTP Server, WebSphere, or reverse proxy config) for HSTS-related directives such as Strict-Transport-Security, HSTSHeader, or mod_headers settingsAffected if HSTS is not configured in the web server, or the configuration is commented out or disabled
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Verify HSTS preload statusCheck if the domain is submitted to the HSTS preload list by visiting https://hstspreload.org/ or inspect if the includeSubDomains directive is configuredAffected if HSTS preload is not enabled and subdomains are not protected
The environment is affected if running IBM Security Verify Governance 10.0.2 and the Strict-Transport-Security header is missing or improperly configured in HTTP responses.
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 dataEnable HSTS by configuring the web server to include the Strict-Transport-Security header with appropriate max-age settings.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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-2023-35888 — 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-2023-35888 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data