CVE-2023-49706
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 · uneditedDefective request context handling in Self Service in LinOTP 3.x before 3.2.5 allows remote unauthenticated attackers to escalate privileges, thereby allowing them to act as and with the permissions of another user. Attackers must generate repeated API requests to trigger a race condition with concurrent user activity in the self-service portal.
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 confidenceA race condition in LinOTP's Self Service portal allows unauthenticated remote attackers to hijack user sessions by generating repeated API requests that collide with legitimate concurrent user activity. The defective request context handling fails to properly isolate user contexts, enabling privilege escalation to impersonate other users.
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>= 3.0.0, <= 3.2.4>= 3.0.0, <= 3.2.4CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/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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Determine LinOTP application versionCheck the installed LinOTP version by inspecting the package manager, running 'linotp --version', or examining the application's about/info endpoint if available. On Linux systems, also check /usr/lib/python*/site-packages/linotp/__init__.py or similar for version metadata.Affected if The installed version is between 3.0.0 and 3.2.4 inclusive.
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Verify Self Service portal is enabledExamine the LinOTP configuration file (typically linotp.ini or linotp.conf) for settings related to 'selfservice' or 'selfserviceportal'. Look for directives like 'enable_selfservice' or 'selfservice.url' and confirm they are set to an active state.Affected if The Self Service portal is enabled and accessible to users.
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Confirm Self Service API endpoints are exposedCheck if the self-service API endpoints are reachable by attempting to access the self-service base URL (commonly /selfservice or /userselfservice) or by reviewing web server configuration for routes exposing the LinOTP self-service functionality.Affected if The self-service endpoints are exposed and reachable over the network.
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Check for concurrent user activity logsReview LinOTP access logs for evidence of multiple simultaneous or rapidly repeated API requests targeting the self-service portal, which would indicate the race condition could be triggered.Affected if Multiple concurrent self-service API requests are observable in logs.
A user is affected if their LinOTP installation version falls within 3.0.0 to 3.2.4 AND the Self Service portal is enabled and accessible.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade to LinOTP version 3.2.5 or later to obtain the patch for the request context handling defect. If immediate upgrade is not possible, consider rate-limiting or temporarily disabling the self-service portal as a compensating control.
LinOTP 3.2.5
- Upgrade LinOTP to version 3.2.5 or later
- If using the Virtual Appliance, upgrade to the Virtual Appliance version containing LinOTP 3.2.5 or later
- After upgrade, verify the Self Service portal is functioning correctly
- Review user privilege assignments in the Self Service to confirm no unauthorized privilege escalation occurred
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-49706 — 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-2023-49706 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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