CVE-2023-3597
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 · uneditedA flaw was found in Keycloak, where it does not correctly validate its client step-up authentication in org.keycloak.authentication. This flaw allows a remote user authenticated with a password to register a false second authentication factor along with an existing one and bypass authentication.
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 confidenceKeycloak fails to properly validate client step-up authentication in the org.keycloak.authentication component, allowing an authenticated user to register a fraudulent second authentication factor alongside a legitimate one, thereby bypassing multi-factor authentication requirements.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Keycloak versionCheck the Keycloak admin console under 'Server info' > 'Versions', or inspect the startup logs, or query the /realms/master/api/v1/info endpointAffected if The installed version is unpatched and falls within the vulnerable range for CVE-2023-3597 (compare against known affected versions)
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Review step-up authentication flowsNavigate to 'Authentication' in the admin console and examine all flows that include 'step-up' or 'conditional' authentication. Inspect the flow bindings for each realm under 'Authentication' > 'Bindings'Affected if A step-up authentication flow exists that does not properly validate client authentication before allowing secondary factor registration
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Inspect MFA registration configurationGo to 'Authentication' > 'Flows' and review the 'Browser' or 'Registration' flow. Check if the 'Copy Reminder' or similar second-factor registration execution allows bypass when combined with step-up authenticationAffected if The MFA registration flow permits registering an additional authenticator without validating it against the initial step-up authentication request
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Verify authentication executor orderingIn the admin console under 'Authentication' > 'Flows', examine the execution flow for browser and registration flows. Check if conditional executions allow execution of secondary factor registration without proper required actionsAffected if Conditional executions exist that can be triggered to register a second factor alongside an existing legitimate factor without proper validation
A user is affected if running an unpatched Keycloak version AND has authentication flows configured with step-up or conditional MFA registration that lacks proper client validation for secondary factor registration.
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 dataEnsure Keycloak is updated to a patched version and review all authentication flows to confirm proper enforcement of step-up authentication and MFA registration controls.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-3597 — 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-2023-3597 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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