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Unifi Uap FirmwareOperating system · Ui

CVE-2023-38034

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 6.5.53 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
A command injection vulnerability in the DHCP Client function of all UniFi Access Points and Switches, excluding the Switch Flex Mini, could allow a Remote Code Execution (RCE). Affected Products: All UniFi Access Points (Version 6.5.53 and earlier) All UniFi Switches (Version 6.5.32 and earlier) -USW Flex Mini excluded. Mitigation: Update UniFi Access Points to Version 6.5.62 or later. Update UniFi Switches to Version 6.5.59 or later.

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 confidence

A command injection vulnerability exists in the DHCP Client function of UniFi Access Points (version 6.5.53 and earlier) and UniFi Switches (version 6.5.32 and earlier, excluding USW Flex Mini). Attackers can inject arbitrary commands through the DHCP client, achieving remote code execution on affected devices.

MitigationUpdate UniFi Access Points to firmware version 6.5.62 or later and UniFi Switches to version 6.5.59 or later. The USW Flex Mini is not affected.

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
Unifi Uap FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 6.5.53
Unifi Switch FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 6.5.32

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify device type and model
    Access UniFi Controller or check device physical label to confirm whether the device is a UniFi Access Point (UAP) or UniFi Switch, and note the exact model number.
    Affected if Device is a UniFi Access Point or UniFi Switch (excluding USW Flex Mini)
  2. Check Access Point firmware version
    In UniFi Controller, navigate to Devices > select AP > look at the Firmware version field. Alternatively, access the AP via SSH and run: show version
    Affected if Firmware version is 6.5.53 or earlier on UniFi Access Points
  3. Check Switch firmware version
    In UniFi Controller, navigate to Devices > select Switch > look at the Firmware version field. Alternatively, access the switch via SSH and run: show version
    Affected if Firmware version is 6.5.32 or earlier on UniFi Switches (note: USW Flex Mini is not affected regardless of version)
  4. Confirm DHCP client is in use
    Verify the device is configured to obtain an IP address via DHCP client (not static IP). In UniFi Controller, check the device's IP settings under the Configuration tab. If the device uses static IP addressing, the DHCP client vulnerability surface is not active.
    Affected if DHCP client is enabled and the device obtains IP via DHCP (the attack requires DHCP client to be active)

A user is affected if they have a UniFi Access Point on firmware 6.5.53 or earlier, or a UniFi Switch (excluding USW Flex Mini) on firmware 6.5.32 or earlier, with DHCP client functionality enabled.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 6.5.53
Interim mitigation

Update UniFi Access Points to firmware version 6.5.62 or later and UniFi Switches to version 6.5.59 or later. The USW Flex Mini is not affected.

Recommended fix High confidence

UniFi AP to version 6.5.62 or later; UniFi Switch to version 6.5.59 or later

  1. Identify whether the affected device is a UniFi Access Point or UniFi Switch
  2. For UniFi Access Points: Upgrade firmware to version 6.5.62 or later
  3. For UniFi Switches: Upgrade firmware to version 6.5.59 or later
  4. Note: Switch Flex Mini is not affected and does not require updating
  5. Verify the firmware upgrade was successful after completion

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

Fix this in Unifi Uap Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-38034 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