CVE-2023-36669
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 · uneditedMissing Authentication for a Critical Function within the Kratos NGC Indoor Unit (IDU) before 11.4 allows remote attackers to obtain arbitrary control of the IDU/ODU system. Any attacker with layer-3 network access to the IDU can impersonate the Touch Panel Unit (TPU) within the IDU by sending crafted TCP requests to the IDU.
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 confidenceMissing authentication in Kratos NGC Indoor Unit (IDU) before version 11.4 allows unauthenticated remote attackers with layer-3 network access to impersonate the Touch Panel Unit (TPU) by sending crafted TCP requests, enabling arbitrary control of the IDU/ODU system.
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< 11.4CVSS 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 Kratos NGC IDU firmware versionAccess the device management interface or check the system information page via the web UI or CLI command (typically 'show version' or 'system info'). Locate the firmware version field.Affected if The displayed firmware version is below 11.4 (e.g., 11.3, 11.2, etc.)
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Verify network accessibility of the IDUDetermine if the Kratos NGC Indoor Unit has a directly reachable IP address on a network accessible to untrusted users. Check routing tables and network configuration to confirm layer-3 connectivity from external or untrusted network segments.Affected if The IDU is reachable via layer-3 from networks that contain untrusted or unauthenticated users.
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Check for exposed TCP servicesPerform a TCP port scan against the IDU IP address using tools like nmap (e.g., 'nmap -sT -p1-1000 <IDU_IP>') to identify open TCP ports, particularly any ports associated with TPU communication or device control.Affected if Multiple TCP ports are open and accessible from an untrusted network, especially ports used for TPU or IDU control functions.
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Confirm TPU authentication configurationReview the device security settings or authentication configuration for the Touch Panel Unit communication interface. Look for any settings that control whether TPU connections require authentication tokens or credentials.Affected if No authentication is required for TPU communication, or authentication is explicitly disabled in the device configuration.
You are affected if the IDU firmware version is below 11.4 AND the device is accessible via layer-3 networks from untrusted users, allowing unauthenticated TCP requests to control the system.
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.
dbcve · scoped11.4
Upgrade IDU firmware to version 11.4 or later. Implement network segmentation to restrict layer-3 access to the IDU and deploy firewall rules to block unauthorized TCP traffic to the device.
Firmware version 11.4
- Obtain the Ngc Indoor Unit Firmware version 11.4 or later from an official Kratos Defense source
- Follow Kratos Defense standard firmware upgrade procedures for the NGC Indoor Unit (IDU)
- Verify the firmware has been successfully applied by checking the IDU system information
- Confirm the version is now 11.4 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-36669 — 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-2023-36669 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