dbcve.org
Acme.shApplication · Acme.sh Project

CVE-2023-38198

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.0.6 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
acme.sh before 3.0.6 runs arbitrary commands from a remote server via eval, as exploited in the wild in June 2023.

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

acme.sh before version 3.0.6 contains a command injection vulnerability where the application uses eval() to execute commands received from a remote server without proper sanitization, allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on the affected system.

MitigationUpgrade acme.sh to version 3.0.6 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

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
Acme.shApplication
Affected:< 3.0.6

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. Check installed acme.sh version
    Run `acme.sh --version` or `~/.acme.sh/acme.sh --version` to see the currently installed version
    Affected if Version is lower than 3.0.6 (for example, 3.0.5, 3.0.4, etc.)
  2. Verify acme.sh binary location
    Locate the acme.sh binary with `which acme.sh` or `ls -la ~/.acme.sh/acme.sh` to confirm installation path
    Affected if Binary exists but version cannot be determined or shows a version below 3.0.6
  3. Check if acme.sh is used in server mode
    Review any systemd service file, cron job, or script that runs acme.sh to see if it operates as an ACME server receiving remote commands (check for `--server` flag or similar configurations)
    Affected if acme.sh is configured to receive or process commands from remote ACME servers and version is below 3.0.6

You are affected if acme.sh version is below 3.0.6 and it processes commands from remote ACME servers.

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 3.0.6 or later
Fixed in 3.0.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade acme.sh to version 3.0.6 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

acme.sh 3.0.6 or later

  1. Check the currently installed acme.sh version by running: acme.sh --version
  2. Upgrade acme.sh to version 3.0.6 or later by running: acme.sh --upgrade
  3. Verify the upgrade was successful by running: acme.sh --version and confirming the version number is 3.0.6 or higher

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

Fix this in Acme.sh Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

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-2023-38198 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