CVE-2023-36659
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in OPSWAT MetaDefender KIOSK 4.6.1.9996. Long inputs were not properly processed, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (loss of communication).
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 confidenceMetaDefender KIOSK 4.6.1.9996 fails to properly validate or handle excessively long input strings, allowing remote attackers to send crafted requests with oversized payloads that crash the application and cause complete loss of communication.
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>= 4.5.0, <= 4.6.1.9996CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed MetaDefender Kiosk versionLocate the version information in the product interface, configuration files, or installation directory. Typically found in the About section of the web interface, or in version files within the installation directory.Affected if The installed version falls within the range >= 4.5.0 and <= 4.6.1.9996.
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Verify the application service is running and responsiveAttempt to access the MetaDefender Kiosk web interface or API endpoint using a browser or HTTP client. Check if the service responds to requests or returns an error indicating unavailability.Affected if The service is unresponsive, returns connection errors, or fails to serve normal requests, which may indicate the vulnerability has been exploited.
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Review application and system logs for crash indicatorsExamine logs in the MetaDefender Kiosk logging directory (commonly found in the installation folder or system event logs) for entries indicating sudden terminations, unhandled exceptions, or memory-related errors around the time of suspected attacks.Affected if Logs show frequent crashes, service restarts, or error messages related to input processing failures.
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Assess network exposure of the MetaDefender Kiosk serviceDetermine if the service is directly accessible from untrusted networks. Review firewall rules and network configuration to identify if the Kiosk management interface or API is exposed to the internet or untrusted internal segments.Affected if The service is accessible from untrusted networks without proper filtering, increasing exploitability.
You are affected if your MetaDefender Kiosk version is between 4.5.0 and 4.6.1.9996 and you observe service unavailability or crash events, especially if the interface is network-accessible.
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 dataImplement proper input length validation and bounds checking on all input processing paths, with appropriate error handling for oversized inputs to prevent service termination.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-36659 — 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-2023-36659 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
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