CVE-2023-50315
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 WebSphere Application Server 8.5 and 9.0 could allow an attacker with access to the network to conduct spoofing attacks. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability using a certificate issued by a trusted authority to obtain sensitive information. IBM X-Force ID: 274714.
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 WebSphere Application Server 8.5 and 9.0 contains a certificate validation weakness that allows an attacker with network access to conduct spoofing attacks. By presenting a certificate issued by a trusted certificate authority, an attacker can bypass proper validation and obtain sensitive information through the spoofed identity.
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= 8.5.0.0= 9.0.0.0CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/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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Determine WebSphere Application Server versionRun the versionInfo.sh script located in the bin directory of the WebSphere installation (typically $WAS_HOME/bin/versionInfo.sh) or check the installation directory for version filesAffected if The installed version is 8.5.0.0 or 9.0.0.0 exactly, or falls within the 8.5.x or 9.0.x line before patches are applied
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Locate SSL configuration filesNavigate to the WebSphere profile configuration directory (typically $WAS_HOME/profiles/<profile_name>/config/cells/<cell_name>/nodes/<node_name>/) and locate the security.xml file, or use the administrative console SSL certificate and key management settingsAffected if SSL configurations exist and are in use for external connections
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Inspect custom trust store settingsIn the security.xml file or via the administrative console under SSL certificate and key management > Manage endpoint security configurations > SSL configurations, examine the trustStore or trustStoreRef attributes to identify any custom trust store referencesAffected if A custom trust store is configured that may accept certificates from non-standard Certificate Authorities
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Verify certificate validation is enabledCheck the SSL configuration for attributes related to certificate validation such as validateCert or certificateValidation, or examine Java security properties in the java.security file within the WebSphere JRE directoryAffected if Certificate validation appears disabled, set to none, or uses a weak validation mechanism such as trusting all certificates
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Review trusted CA certificates in useUse the keytool utility (keytool -list -keystore <truststore.jks> -storepass <password>) to list certificates in the configured trust store, or export from the WebSphere administrative console under SSL certificate and key management > Key stores and certificatesAffected if The trust store contains unexpected or self-signed certificates from Certificate Authorities not intended to be trusted
Your environment is affected if you are running IBM WebSphere Application Server 8.5.0.0 or 9.0.0.0 (or unpatched versions in those lines) AND SSL configurations with custom trust stores or weakened certificate validation are in use for network communications.
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 dataApply IBM WebSphere updates or interim fixes as released in IBM security bulletins. Verify certificate validation logic and ensure only expected trusted CAs are accepted.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $3,328.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-50315 — 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-2023-50315 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
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