CVE-2023-40236
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 · uneditedIn Pexip VMR self-service portal before 3, the same SSH host key is used across different customers' installations, which allows authentication bypass.
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 confidenceThe Pexip VMR self-service portal before version 3 uses identical SSH host keys across all customer installations. SSH host keys are meant to uniquely identify a server to clients, preventing man-in-the-middle attacks. When multiple customers share the same host key, an attacker who has obtained the private key from one installation can impersonate that server to other customers, effectively bypassing SSH authentication.
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< 3.0CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Pexip VMR self-service portal installationLocate the Pexip VMR self-service portal installation and determine its version using the system's package manager, application metadata, or installation documentation.Affected if The installed version is unknown or reported as below version 3.0
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Check the installed version numberQuery the installed Pexip VMR self-service portal version through the application's admin interface, command-line tools, or system package management.Affected if The version is confirmed to be less than 3.0
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Locate SSH host key filesFind the SSH host key files used by the Pexip VMR service - typically found in the SSH daemon configuration directory (such as /etc/ssh/ or the application's configuration directory).Affected if SSH host key files exist in the expected location for the Pexip VMR service
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Inspect SSH host key contents and compare across installationsExamine the SSH host key fingerprints or public key contents. If multiple Pexip VMR installations exist in different customer environments, compare the host keys to determine if they are identical.Affected if The same SSH host key is found across multiple different customer installations, indicating default keys are in use
A defender is affected if the Pexip VMR self-service portal version is below 3.0 and the SSH host keys are shared defaults rather than unique per-installation keys.
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.
From vendor data3.0
Generate unique SSH host keys for each customer installation and ensure proper key distribution to all connecting clients. Upgrade to Pexip VMR self-service portal version 3 or later where this issue is resolved.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-40236 — 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-2023-40236 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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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.
- 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