CVE-2023-3997
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 · uneditedSplunk SOAR versions lower than 6.1.0 are indirectly affected by a potential vulnerability accessed through the user’s terminal. A third party can send Splunk SOAR a maliciously crafted web request containing special ANSI characters to cause log file poisoning. When a terminal user attempts to view the poisoned logs, this can tamper with the terminal and cause possible malicious code execution from the terminal user’s action.
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 confidenceThis is an ANSI escape sequence injection vulnerability in Splunk SOAR. An attacker can embed malicious ANSI control characters into log files via specially crafted web requests. When terminal users view these poisoned logs, the ANSI sequences can manipulate the terminal display, hide content, or potentially trigger execution of malicious commands through terminal user interaction.
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< 6.1.0< 6.1.0.131CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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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Check installed Splunk SOAR versionAccess the Splunk SOAR web interface and navigate to the Administration > System > Server Settings > General page, or run 'sudo python3 -m phantom.version' from the host command line to retrieve the exact version numberAffected if The installed version is below 6.1.0 or 6.1.0.131 (for example, 6.0.x, 5.4.x, or earlier releases)
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Verify web request logging is activeIn the Splunk SOAR web interface, go to Administration > Data Management > Log Settings and confirm whether HTTP request logging or access logs are enabled. These logs capture incoming web requests that could contain malicious ANSI sequencesAffected if HTTP access or request logging is turned on and log files are being written to disk accessible to terminal users
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Inspect log files for ANSI escape sequencesSearch your Splunk SOAR log directory (typically under /var/log/phantom/ or the logs folder specified in your installation) by running: grep -r $'\x1b\[' *.log or using a hex editor to examine log files for sequences starting with ESC (0x1b) followed by '['Affected if Any log files contain raw ANSI escape sequences (ESC[ characters) that did not originate from legitimate colored terminal output
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Review recent access logs for suspicious inputExamine the most recent access.log or httpd.log files in your Splunk SOAR log directory for unusual character patterns in request paths, user agents, or parameters that could indicate injection attemptsAffected if Log entries show URL-encoded or raw ANSI escape sequences embedded in request parameters or paths
You are affected if your Splunk SOAR version is below 6.1.0 or 6.1.0.131 and your installation writes web request logs that can be viewed by terminal users.
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 · scoped6.1.06.1.0.131
Upgrade Splunk SOAR to version 6.1.0 or higher. Additionally, configure terminal emulators to disable interpretation of untrusted ANSI escape sequences as a defense-in-depth measure.
6.1.0
- Upgrade Splunk SOAR to version 6.1.0 or later to resolve the ANSI character log poisoning vulnerability
- After upgrade, verify that log files are properly sanitized of potentially malicious ANSI escape sequences
- Ensure terminal applications used for log viewing are kept up to date as a defense-in-depth measure
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-3997 — 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-2023-3997 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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