CVE-2023-43042
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 · uneditedIBM SAN Volume Controller, IBM Storwize, IBM FlashSystem and IBM Storage Virtualize 8.3 products use default passwords for a privileged user. IBM X-Force ID: 266874.
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 confidenceIBM SAN Volume Controller, IBM Storwize, IBM FlashSystem and IBM Storage Virtualize 8.3 products ship with default passwords for a privileged user account, allowing unauthenticated attackers to gain administrative access to the storage systems.
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= 8.3CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 the IBM Storage Virtualize or related product versionRun the command 'lsversion' or 'lssystem' via the storage system CLI or check the management GUI for the product version informationAffected if The installed version is 8.3.x (specifically version 8.3) for IBM Storage Virtualize, or the system is an IBM SAN Volume Controller, IBM Storwize, or IBM FlashSystem running the affected version range
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Locate the privileged user account configurationAccess the storage system management interface or CLI and navigate to user management settings. Run 'lsuser' or similar command to list all configured user accounts with administrative privilegesAffected if A privileged administrative account exists in the user list (commonly the 'admin' or 'superuser' account)
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Determine if default credentials are still activeAttempt to authenticate using known default administrative credentials for the system, or review password policy settings to confirm whether the default password has been changed. Check if the account allows login with default credential setsAffected if The default password for the privileged administrative account has not been changed from the factory default, allowing unauthenticated access
The environment is affected if running IBM Storage Virtualize 8.3 (or related IBM storage products) AND the default privileged user account password remains unchanged from the manufacturer default, allowing unauthorized administrative access.
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 dataImmediately change all default passwords on affected systems per IBM documentation and establish a policy prohibiting use of default credentials on any system.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,168.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-43042 — 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-2023-43042 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