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IgnitionApplication · Inductiveautomation

CVE-2023-38122

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.1.26 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Inductive Automation Ignition OPC UA Quick Client Permissive Cross-domain Policy Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Inductive Automation Ignition. Although authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability, the existing authentication mechanism can be bypassed. The specific flaw exists within the configuration of the web server. The issue results from the lack of appropriate Content Security Policy headers. An attacker can leverage this in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to execute code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-20539.

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

This vulnerability in Inductive Automation Ignition stems from missing or permissive Content Security Policy (CSP) headers in the web server configuration. While the OPC UA Quick Client requires authentication, an attacker can bypass this authentication mechanism and leverage the lack of CSP headers in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to achieve remote code execution in SYSTEM context. The cross-domain policy weakness allows malicious cross-origin requests to be processed, facilitating the attack chain.

MitigationImplement strict Content Security Policy headers on the Ignition web server to restrict cross-origin requests, and address the authentication bypass vector to prevent unauthenticated attackers from reaching the vulnerable code path.

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
IgnitionApplication
Affected:< 8.1.26

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 Ignition version
    Check the installed Ignition Gateway version through the Gateway Control Hub status page, startup logs, or installation directory metadata. Compare the version number against the affected range of < 8.1.26.
    Affected if The installed version is any release earlier than 8.1.26.
  2. Inspect CSP response headers
    Send an HTTP request to the Ignition web interface and examine the response headers for Content-Security-Policy or Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only headers. Use a browser dev tool or curl -I command against the gateway URL.
    Affected if The response lacks CSP headers entirely or contains permissive policies that allow broad cross-origin scripts.
  3. Check cross-domain policy files
    Look for crossdomain.xml or clientaccesspolicy.xml files accessible on the Ignition web server. Attempt to retrieve them via HTTP (for example, /crossdomain.xml) and examine their contents.
    Affected if A crossdomain.xml or clientaccesspolicy.xml file exists with allow-all or overly permissive domain access rules.
  4. Verify OPC UA Quick Client exposure
    Determine if the OPC UA Quick Client endpoint is exposed without requiring authentication. This may involve checking the Gateway's security configuration, authentication settings, and testing direct access to the Quick Client interface.
    Affected if The OPC UA Quick Client or related endpoints can be accessed without proper authentication, enabling the authentication bypass path.

You are affected if your Ignition version is earlier than 8.1.26 AND the web server returns missing or permissive CSP headers, allowing cross-origin requests to be processed.

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 8.1.26 or later
Fixed in 8.1.26
Interim mitigation

Implement strict Content Security Policy headers on the Ignition web server to restrict cross-origin requests, and address the authentication bypass vector to prevent unauthenticated attackers from reaching the vulnerable code path.

Recommended fix High confidence

Ignition 8.1.26 or later

  1. 1. Back up the current Ignition configuration and database before starting the upgrade process.
  2. 2. Download Ignition version 8.1.26 or later from the official Inductive Automation website (inductiveautomation.com).
  3. 3. Stop the Ignition Gateway service.
  4. 4. Run the installer for the new Ignition version.
  5. 5. Follow the upgrade wizard prompts, ensuring the installation path matches the existing installation.
  6. 6. After installation completes, start the Ignition Gateway service.
  7. 7. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the Ignition version in the Gateway status page.
  8. 8. Confirm that Content Security Policy headers are now properly configured by inspecting HTTP response headers or reviewing the web server configuration.

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

Fix this in Ignition Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2023-38122 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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