CVE-2023-52723
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 · uneditedIn KDE libksieve before 23.03.80, kmanagesieve/session.cpp places a cleartext password in server logs because a username variable is accidentally given a password value.
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 confidenceIn KDE libksieve before version 23.03.80, a coding error in kmanagesieve/session.cpp causes a username variable to be assigned a password value instead of the actual username. This results in cleartext passwords being written to server logs when users authenticate, exposing credentials to anyone with access to those logs.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/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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Check installed libksieve versionRun 'apt-cache policy libksieve' (Debian/Ubuntu), 'rpm -qa | grep libksieve' (RHEL/Fedora), or check your package manager for the installed libksieve or kmanagesieve package versionAffected if The installed version is lower than 23.03.80
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Check KDE PIM versionRun 'kontact --version' or 'kdepim-runtime --version' to find the KDE PIM/libksieve version shipped with your systemAffected if The reported version is before 23.03.80 or the package is unpatched
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Review server logs for exposed credentialsExamine your mail server logs (such as /var/log/mail.log, /var/log/maillog, or your managed sieve server logs) for entries during authentication attempts. Look for what should be the username field containing what appears to be a password stringAffected if Log entries show cleartext passwords appearing in the username field during Sieve authentication
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Verify the session.cpp patch statusIf you have access to the source, check kmanagesieve/session.cpp for the line that assigns username vs password, or look for the specific commit that fixed this issueAffected if The code still contains the original bug where the username variable is assigned the password value
You are affected if you are running any version of KDE libksieve or kmanagesieve before 23.03.80 and have not reviewed your server logs for cleartext password exposure.
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 · scopedUpdate to KDE libksieve version 23.03.80 or later. Additionally, users should rotate passwords that may have been transmitted during the vulnerable period as a precautionary measure, and review server logs for any unauthorized access.
libksieve/kmanagesieve version 23.03.80 or later
- 1. Identify the current version of libksieve/kmanagesieve installed on your system
- 2. For KDE systems: Update the kdepim-runtime or libksieve package to version 23.03.80 or later
- 3. For Debian/Ubuntu: Run 'apt update && apt upgrade' to obtain the patched package
- 4. For other distributions: Check your distribution's package repositories for KDE PIM packages dated after the 23.03.80 release
- 5. Verify the fix by checking that passwords are no longer logged in plaintext in server logs
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-52723 — 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-2023-52723 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