CVE-2023-43870
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 · uneditedWhen installing the Net2 software a root certificate is installed into the trusted store. A potential hacker could access the installer batch file or reverse engineer the source code to gain access to the root certificate password. Using the root certificate and password they could then create their own certificates to emulate another site. Then by establishing a proxy service to emulate the site they could monitor traffic passed between the end user and the site allowing access to the data content.
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 confidenceThe Net2 software installer embeds a root certificate with a hardcoded password into the Windows trusted certificate store. An attacker who obtains this password (via installer file access or reverse engineering) can forge certificates to impersonate any website, then use a proxy service to intercept traffic in a man-in-the-middle attack.
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>= 6.02, < 6.07= 6.07CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Paxton Access Net2 is installedOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' in PowerShell to list installed softwareAffected if Paxton Access Net2 appears in the installed programs list
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Check the installed Net2 version against affected rangeIn Programs and Features, locate Net2 and note the version; or check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Paxton\Net2 for the Version valueAffected if The installed version is 6.02 through 6.06 (inclusive), or exactly 6.07
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Inspect the Windows trusted root certificate storeOpen certmgr.msc (Current User) or certlm.msc (Local Machine), navigate to Trusted Root Certification Authorities > Certificates, and look for a certificate issued by or to 'Paxton' or 'Net2' that was added by the installerAffected if A Paxton or Net2 root certificate exists in the trusted root store, indicating the vulnerable certificate was installed
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Verify the certificate was added during Net2 installationCheck the certificate properties (double-click the certificate) for the 'Issued By' field and the date it was installed; compare against the Net2 installation date on the systemAffected if The certificate was installed around the same time as Net2 and remains in the trusted store
A system is affected if Paxton Access Net2 version 6.02 through 6.06 or version 6.07 is installed AND the corresponding root certificate with the hardcoded password remains in the Windows trusted certificate store.
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 data6.07
Regenerate the root certificate with a new secure password, update the installer to use the new credentials, and issue guidance for users to replace the compromised certificate in their trust stores. Consider revoking the old certificate.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-43870 — 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-2023-43870 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data