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Calamares Nixos ExtensionsPlugin / extension · Nixos

CVE-2023-36476

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 0.3.13 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Public exploit Zero-click Patch available

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
calamares-nixos-extensions provides Calamares branding and modules for NixOS, a distribution of GNU/Linux. Users of calamares-nixos-extensions version 0.3.12 and prior who installed NixOS through the graphical calamares installer, with an unencrypted `/boot`, on either non-UEFI systems or with a LUKS partition different from `/` have their LUKS key file in `/boot` as a plaintext CPIO archive attached to their NixOS initrd. A patch is available and anticipated to be part of version 0.3.13 to backport to NixOS 22.11, 23.05, and unstable channels. Expert users who have a copy of their data may, as a workaround, re-encrypt the LUKS partition(s) themselves.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-200

The application discloses data — error detail, internal paths, tokens, or other users' records — to someone who shouldn't see it. On its own it can look minor, but it hands attackers the map they need for a larger attack. Remediation is about minimising what's returned and enforcing authorization on every piece of data.

General guidance for the information exposure class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
Calamares Nixos ExtensionsPlugin / extension
Affected:< 0.3.13

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
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

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 0.3.13 or later
Fixed in 0.3.13
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Version 0.3.13 (also backported to NixOS 22.11, 23.05, and unstable channels)

  1. Update your NixOS system to receive the patched version. For NixOS 23.05, run: sudo nix-channel --update nixos && sudo nixos-rebuild switch
  2. Alternatively, for unstable channel: sudo nix-channel --update nixos-unstable && sudo nixos-rebuild switch
  3. Verify the Calamares version is 0.3.13 or later: nix-instantiate --eval -E 'import <nixpkgs> {}' | grep calamares
  4. If using a custom configuration, ensure calamares-nixos-extensions is updated to version 0.3.13 or later in your NixOS configuration
Caveat Users with existing installations should re-encrypt their LUKS partitions as a precaution since the plaintext key file may have been exposed

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $900. Get the upgrade done

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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-2023-36476 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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