ExosOperating system · Extremenetworks

CVE-2023-43119

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 22.7 / 31.7.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
An Access Control issue discovered in Extreme Networks Switch Engine (EXOS) before 32.5.1.5, also fixed in 22.7, 31.7.2 allows attackers to gain escalated privileges using crafted telnet commands via Redis server.

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 confidence

A critical access control vulnerability in Extreme Networks EXOS switch firmware allows authenticated attackers to escalate privileges via crafted telnet commands targeting the Redis server component. The issue affects versions prior to 32.5.1.5 (and 22.7, 31.7.2 as specific fix points), enabling unauthorized administrative access.

MitigationUpgrade Extreme EXOS to version 32.5.1.5 or later (or 22.7/31.7.2 per branch), and restrict telnet access to the Redis server to trusted management networks only.

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
ExosOperating system
Affected:< 22.7>= 31.7.0, < 31.7.2>= 32.0, < 32.5.1.5

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine EXOS firmware version
    Log into the switch CLI and run 'show version' or 'show switch' to display the current firmware version
    Affected if The displayed version falls within < 22.7, or >= 31.7.0 and < 31.7.2, or >= 32.0 and < 32.5.1.5
  2. Verify telnet service status
    Run 'show management' or 'show telnet' to check if telnet access is enabled on the switch
    Affected if Telnet service is listed as enabled or active
  3. Confirm telnet access to Redis is possible
    Check the switch configuration for any telnet ACL rules or policies that permit telnet access to the Redis server component (typically listens on port 6379). Use 'show config' or review running configuration.
    Affected if Telnet traffic to the Redis port is permitted by the configuration or not explicitly blocked

The switch is affected if it runs an EXOS version in the vulnerable ranges AND has telnet access enabled, allowing unauthenticated or low-privileged users to send crafted telnet commands to the Redis component for privilege escalation.

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 22.7 / 31.7.2 / 32.5.1.5 or later
Fixed in 22.731.7.232.5.1.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Extreme EXOS to version 32.5.1.5 or later (or 22.7/31.7.2 per branch), and restrict telnet access to the Redis server to trusted management networks only.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to EXOS 22.7 or later, 31.7.2 or later, or 32.5.1.5 or later (depending on your hardware platform branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current EXOS version by running 'show version' or 'show switch' commands
  2. 2. Determine which upgrade path is appropriate for your hardware platform - consult Extreme Networks release notes for compatibility
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed firmware image (22.7 or later, 31.7.2 or later, or 32.5.1.5 or later) from the Extreme Networks support portal
  4. 4. Upload the firmware to the switch using TFTP, FTP, or SCP: 'upload download <protocol> <filename> <ip-address> <file-location>'
  5. 5. Verify the image integrity using MD5/SHA256 checksums provided on the support portal
  6. 6. Install the firmware: 'install image <slot-number>'
  7. 7. Reboot the switch to apply the new firmware: 'reboot'
  8. 8. After reboot, verify the new version is running: 'show version'
Caveat Review Extreme Networks release notes for your specific hardware platform - some hardware may require specific EXOS branch; always test firmware upgrades in a lab environment before production deployment

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

Fix this in Exos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,480
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2023-43119 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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