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Contributor License Agreement AssistantApplication · Sap

CVE-2023-39438

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.13.1 or later.
See remediation →
87/100
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
A missing authorization check allows an arbitrary authenticated user to perform certain operations through the API of CLA-assistant by executing specific additional steps. This allows an arbitrary authenticated user to read CLA information including information of the persons who signed them as well as custom fields the CLA requester had configured. In addition, an arbitrary authenticated user can update or delete the CLA-configuration for repositories or organizations using CLA-assistant. The stored access tokens for GitHub are not affected, as these are redacted from the API-responses.

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

CLA-assistant has a missing authorization check in its API that allows any authenticated user to read CLA information including signer details and custom fields, as well as update or delete CLA-configuration for repositories or organizations. GitHub access tokens are not affected as they are redacted from API responses.

MitigationImplement proper authorization checks on all API endpoints to verify the authenticated user has permission to access, modify, or delete the requested CLA data before processing the request.

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
Contributor License Agreement AssistantApplication
Affected:< 2.13.1

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

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 CLA-assistant installation
    Locate the CLA-assistant application in your environment. Check for the npm package 'cla-assistant' or look for the application running on its typical port (usually 3000). Determine the installation method (npm, Docker, or direct clone).
    Affected if CLA-assistant is installed and running in your environment
  2. Determine installed version
    Run the command to check the version based on your installation method. For npm: 'npm list cla-assistant' or check package.json. For Docker: 'docker images' to see the image tag. For direct clone: check git tags or version in package.json.
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 2.13.1
  3. Verify API endpoint exposure
    Identify if the CLA-assistant API is exposed to the network. Check your reverse proxy, firewall rules, or cloud security groups that allow access to the CLA-assistant web interface. Confirm the API endpoints are reachable over HTTP/HTTPS.
    Affected if The API is network-accessible and accepts requests
  4. Check authentication configuration
    Examine the CLA-assistant configuration file (config.js, config.json, or environment variables) to determine if authentication is enabled. Look for settings related to GitHub OAuth, session management, or user authentication mechanisms.
    Affected if Authentication is configured and users can log in to the application
  5. Test API authorization boundary
    Create two test users with different repository/organization access levels. Using an authenticated session for the lower-privileged user, attempt to access CLA data from a repository or organization they should not have access to via the API endpoints (GET, PUT, DELETE on CLA configuration endpoints).
    Affected if A lower-privileged authenticated user can read, modify, or delete CLA data for repositories or organizations they do not own or administer

Your environment is affected if you are running CLA-assistant version lower than 2.13.1 with its API accessible to authenticated users who can access data outside their authorized scope.

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 2.13.1 or later
Fixed in 2.13.1
Interim mitigation

Implement proper authorization checks on all API endpoints to verify the authenticated user has permission to access, modify, or delete the requested CLA data before processing the request.

Recommended fix High confidence

2.13.1

  1. Upgrade the Contributor License Agreement Assistant to version 2.13.1 or later
  2. After upgrading, verify that the authorization checks are properly enforced by testing that unauthenticated or unauthorized users can no longer access or modify CLA configurations

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

Fix this in Contributor License Agreement Assistant 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-2023-39438 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