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ArubaosOperating system · Arubanetworks

CVE-2023-45626

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.6.0.23 / 8.10.0.9 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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 authenticated vulnerability has been identified allowing an attacker to effectively establish highly privileged persistent arbitrary code execution across boot cycles.

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

An authenticated vulnerability allows an attacker to achieve highly privileged persistent arbitrary code execution that survives across system boot cycles. This indicates a compromise at the bootloader, firmware, or kernel level that maintains execution privileges through reboots, effectively functioning as a sophisticated bootkit or firmware-level persistent implant.

MitigationImplement firmware updates from the vendor, verify secure boot integrity, and consider system reimaging with hardened boot configurations if the compromise cannot be definitively remediated through patching.

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
ArubaosOperating system
Affected:>= 10.3.0.0, < 10.4.0.3= 10.5.0.0
InstantosOperating system
Affected:>= 6.4.0.0, < 8.6.0.23>= 8.10.0.0, < 8.10.0.9>= 8.11.0.0, < 8.11.2.0

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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. Check ArubaOS version
    Run 'show version' or 'show system information' from the CLI and note the exact version number
    Affected if Version is >= 10.3.0.0 and < 10.4.0.3, or equals 10.5.0.0
  2. Check HP InstantOS version
    Run 'show version' or access the web UI system info page and note the exact version number
    Affected if Version is >= 6.4.0.0 and < 8.6.0.23, or >= 8.10.0.0 and < 8.10.0.9, or >= 8.11.0.0 and < 8.11.2.0
  3. Review administrator accounts
    Run 'show user-database' (ArubaOS) or check Local User Database in InstantOS web UI for unexpected or unauthorized admin accounts
    Affected if Unexpected admin accounts exist that were not created by legitimate administrators
  4. Inspect for persistent implants
    Check startup configuration with 'show startup-config' and compare against running configuration; look for unexpected commands, scripts, or modified boot parameters
    Affected if Startup configuration contains modifications not made by your organization or contains suspicious commands at boot time

Your environment is affected if the installed version falls within any of the listed vulnerable ranges and you suspect unauthorized administrative access or observe unexpected persistence mechanisms in the boot configuration.

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 8.6.0.23 / 8.10.0.9 / 8.11.2.0 or later
Fixed in 8.6.0.238.10.0.98.11.2.0
Interim mitigation

Implement firmware updates from the vendor, verify secure boot integrity, and consider system reimaging with hardened boot configurations if the compromise cannot be definitively remediated through patching.

Recommended fix High confidence

ArubaOS: 10.4.0.3+ or 10.5.1.0+; InstantOS: 8.6.0.23+, 8.10.0.9+, or 8.11.2.0+

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed ArubaOS or InstantOS version using 'show version' command
  2. 2. For ArubaOS: If running >= 10.3.0.0 and < 10.4.0.3, upgrade to 10.4.0.3 or later. If running 10.5.0.0, upgrade to 10.5.1.0 or later
  3. 3. For InstantOS: If running >= 6.4.0.0 and < 8.6.0.23, upgrade to 8.6.0.23 or later
  4. 4. For InstantOS: If running >= 8.10.0.0 and < 8.10.0.9, upgrade to 8.10.0.9 or later
  5. 5. For InstantOS: If running >= 8.11.0.0 and < 8.11.2.0, upgrade to 8.11.2.0 or later
  6. 6. Download the appropriate firmware from the Aruba support portal (https://asp.arubanetworks.com)
  7. 7. Upload the firmware to the controller and verify the image integrity
  8. 8. Perform the upgrade during a maintenance window following Aruba's standard upgrade procedures
Caveat Review Aruba's release notes for compatibility considerations and potential behavioral changes between major versions

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

Fix this in Arubaos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation10.0 h
  • Implementation20.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
48.0 hours of engineering $8,480
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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-2023-45626 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