CVE-2023-40623
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 · uneditedSAP BusinessObjects Suite Installer - version 420, 430, allows an attacker within the network to create a directory under temporary directory and link it to a directory with operating system files. On successful exploitation the attacker can delete all the operating system files causing a limited impact on integrity and completely compromising the availability of the system.
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 confidenceThis is a symlink attack vulnerability in SAP BusinessObjects Suite Installer versions 420 and 430. An attacker with network access can create a directory under the system's temporary directory and link it to a critical OS directory, enabling deletion of operating system files and causing complete availability compromise.
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= 420= 430CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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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Confirm SAP BusinessObjects versionQuery the SAP BusinessObjects installation for its exact version number (e.g., via SAP installer logs, versioninfo utility, or SAP IGS version check)Affected if The installed version is exactly 420 or exactly 430
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Identify temporary directory locationLocate the system's temporary directory used by the SAP BusinessObjects installer (commonly TEMP, TMP, or SAPTMP environment variables)Affected if The installer uses a writable temporary directory accessible to the attacker
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Check for unauthorized symlinks in temp directoriesInspect the temp directory for newly created symbolic links pointing to critical OS directories (e.g., /, /etc, Windows\System32) using 'ls -la' or equivalent file listingAffected if Symlinks exist in the temp directory linking to system-critical directories
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Verify temp directory permissionsReview filesystem permissions on the temporary directory to determine if low-privileged users can create subdirectoriesAffected if The temp directory allows unprivileged users to create directories or symlinks
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Review installer execution contextDetermine if the SAP BusinessObjects installer has been run recently or is scheduled to run, as the vulnerability triggers during installer executionAffected if The installer has been executed or is scheduled on the system
A system is affected if SAP BusinessObjects version 420 or 430 is installed and the temp directory used by the installer is writable by a network-attacker, allowing symlink creation.
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 dataApply the official SAP security patch for CVE-2023-40623 immediately. Additionally, restrict filesystem permissions on temporary directories and monitor for unauthorized symlink creation.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-40623 — 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-2023-40623 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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- 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
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