PingdirectoryApplication · Pingidentity

CVE-2023-36496

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 9.1.0.2 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
Delegated Admin Privilege virtual attribute provider plugin, when enabled, allows an authenticated user to elevate their permissions in the Directory Server.

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

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Delegated Admin Privilege virtual attribute provider plugin of a Directory Server. When this plugin is enabled, it incorrectly permits authenticated users to elevate their permissions beyond their assigned privileges, allowing unauthorized administrative access to the directory.

MitigationDisable the Delegated Admin Privilege virtual attribute provider plugin if not required, or apply vendor-provided security patches to address the improper permission handling. Review user privilege assignments after remediation.

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
PingdirectoryApplication
Affected:>= 8.3.0.0, <= 8.3.0.8>= 9.0.0.0, <= 9.0.0.5>= 9.1.0.0, <= 9.1.0.2= 9.2.0.0= 9.2.0.1= 9.3.0.0= 9.3.0.1

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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 Pingdirectory version
    Run the dsversion command from the PingDirectory installation directory, or inspect the version file typically found in the installation root
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: 8.3.0.0-8.3.0.8, 9.0.0.0-9.0.0.5, 9.1.0.0-9.1.0.2, or equals 9.2.0.0, 9.2.0.1, 9.3.0.0, or 9.3.0.1
  2. Verify the Delegated Admin Privilege plugin exists
    Use dsconfig --list-plugins to list all configured plugins and search for an entry named 'Delegated Admin Privilege Virtual Attribute Provider' or similar
    Affected if The plugin appears in the plugin list and is enabled
  3. Confirm plugin is actively enabled
    Run dsconfig get-plugin-prop --plugin-name "Delegated Admin Privilege Virtual Attribute Provider" --prop enabled to check the enabled status
    Affected if The plugin is present and the enabled property is set to true
  4. Review plugin configuration for virtual attribute
    Check the virtual attribute provider configuration using dsconfig and verify the Delegated Admin Privilege provider is configured as a virtual attribute in the directory
    Affected if The virtual attribute provider is configured and active in the directory schema

If the Pingdirectory version is within the affected ranges AND the Delegated Admin Privilege virtual attribute provider plugin is enabled, the environment is vulnerable to privilege escalation.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 9.1.0.2
Interim mitigation

Disable the Delegated Admin Privilege virtual attribute provider plugin if not required, or apply vendor-provided security patches to address the improper permission handling. Review user privilege assignments after remediation.

Fix this in Pingdirectory Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,300
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,680.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-36496 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-36496 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
  • 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