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CrimsonApplication · Redlion

CVE-2023-5719

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
The Crimson 3.2 Windows-based configuration tool allows users with administrative access to define new passwords for users and to download the resulting security configuration to a device. If such a password contains the percent (%) character, invalid values will be included, potentially truncating the string if a NUL is encountered. If the simplified password is not detected by the administrator, the device might be left in a vulnerable state as a result of more-easily compromised credentials. Note that passwords entered via the Crimson system web server do not suffer from this vulnerability.

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 confidence

The Crimson 3.2 Windows-based configuration tool fails to properly sanitize percent (%) characters when setting user passwords. When a password containing % is entered, the string gets incorrectly processed due to improper handling of the percent character (likely related to URL encoding interpretation), causing potential NUL byte insertion and string truncation. This results in the device storing a different, weaker password than intended by the administrator.

MitigationAvoid using percent (%) characters in passwords when using the Crimson configuration tool; use the web server interface instead. Audit and re-set any existing passwords that may have been set using the vulnerable configuration tool to ensure they were stored correctly.

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
CrimsonApplication
Affected:< 3.2= 3.2

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Crimson version
    Open the Crimson configuration tool and navigate to Help > About, or check the installed program version through Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features
    Affected if The version displayed is 3.2 or any version lower than 3.2 (e.g., 3.1, 3.0, 2.x)
  2. Confirm Windows configuration tool was used
    Review documentation or audit logs to determine if passwords were set using the Crimson 3.2 desktop configuration tool rather than the web server interface
    Affected if Passwords were set using the Crimson 3.2 Windows-based configuration tool
  3. Inspect password content for percent characters
    Review password records, configuration backups, or password policies to identify if any user passwords contain the % character
    Affected if Any passwords set through the vulnerable tool contain the percent (%) character
  4. Verify password behavior
    Test login with the intended password containing % - observe if login succeeds or fails, or check if the stored password appears truncated in device diagnostics
    Affected if Login fails with the intended password containing % or password appears shorter than expected in diagnostics

A defender is affected if Crimson version 3.2 or earlier was used with the Windows configuration tool to set passwords containing the percent (%) character.

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 3.2 or later
Fixed in 3.2
Interim mitigation

Avoid using percent (%) characters in passwords when using the Crimson configuration tool; use the web server interface instead. Audit and re-set any existing passwords that may have been set using the vulnerable configuration tool to ensure they were stored correctly.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence
  1. Avoid using the Crimson Windows-based configuration tool for password management; instead use the Crimson system web server interface which is not affected by this vulnerability
  2. If you must use the Windows configuration tool, do not include percent (%) characters in passwords
  3. Ensure any existing passwords set through the Windows tool are reviewed and re-set via the web server to verify they were not truncated

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

Fix this in Crimson Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2023-5719 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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