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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 24 Jan 2024.
Netscaler Application Delivery ControllerApplication · Citrix

CVE-2023-6548

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-01-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.1-55.302 / 13.0-92.21 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild 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
Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') in NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway allows an attacker with access to NSIP, CLIP or SNIP with management interface to perform Authenticated (low privileged) remote code execution on Management Interface.

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

Code injection vulnerability in NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway allows an authenticated low-privileged attacker with network access to the management interface (NSIP, CLIP, or SNIP) to achieve remote code execution on the management interface. This is a critical privilege escalation issue enabling RCE without requiring administrative privileges.

MitigationRestrict network access to the NetScaler management interface (NSIP, CLIP, SNIP) to trusted management networks only, and apply vendor patches when released. Consider disabling direct management access from untrusted networks and using jump hosts.

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
Netscaler Application Delivery ControllerApplication
Affected:>= 12.1, < 12.1-55.302>= 13.0, < 13.0-92.21>= 13.1, < 13.1-37.176>= 13.1, < 13.1-51.15>= 14.1, < 14.1-12.35
Netscaler GatewayApplication
Affected:>= 13.0, < 13.0-92.21>= 13.1, < 13.1-51.15>= 14.1, < 14.1-12.35

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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 NetScaler product type
    Run command: show ns version or show hardware or check the license file to confirm whether the device is NetScaler ADC or NetScaler Gateway
    Affected if The device is running NetScaler ADC or Gateway
  2. Determine installed version
    Run command: show ns version or cat /nsconfig/ns.conf | grep version to extract the full version string including the build number
    Affected if The version falls within any of these ranges: 12.1 < 12.1-55.302, 13.0 < 13.0-92.21, 13.1 < 13.1-51.15 (or < 13.1-37.176 for certain builds), 14.1 < 14.1-12.35
  3. Verify management interface accessibility
    Check network configuration with: show ip or check if NSIP, CLIP, or SNIP interfaces are reachable from untrusted networks. Review firewall rules and access control lists.
    Affected if Management interfaces (NSIP, CLIP, or SNIP) are exposed to untrusted or external networks
  4. Audit user accounts and privileges
    Run command: show system user or ls /nsconfig/ssl/ to review configured administrative accounts and their privilege levels
    Affected if There are low-privileged or non-administrative user accounts configured on the system

The environment is affected if it runs a vulnerable NetScaler ADC or Gateway version within the affected ranges AND the management interface is network-accessible to the attacker.

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 12.1-55.302 / 13.0-92.21 / 13.1-37.176 or later
Fixed in 12.1-55.30213.0-92.2113.1-37.176
Interim mitigation

Restrict network access to the NetScaler management interface (NSIP, CLIP, SNIP) to trusted management networks only, and apply vendor patches when released. Consider disabling direct management access from untrusted networks and using jump hosts.

Recommended fix High confidence

12.1 → 12.1-55.302+ | 13.0 → 13.0-92.21+ | 13.1 → 13.1-51.15+ (or 13.1-37.176 for older 13.1) | 14.1 → 14.1-12.35+

  1. 1. Identify the current NetScaler ADC or Gateway version by running 'show version' or checking the management interface.
  2. 2. Determine which version branch you are running (12.1, 13.0, 13.1, or 14.1) and plan your upgrade path accordingly.
  3. 3. Review the Citrix NetScaler ADC release notes for the target fixed version to understand any prerequisites or special upgrade considerations.
  4. 4. Backup the current NetScaler configuration using 'save ns config' and export via the management interface or SCP.
  5. 5. Download the appropriate fixed build from Citrix download center (support.citrix.com): For 12.1 branch upgrade to 12.1-55.302 or later; For 13.0 branch upgrade to 13.0-92.21 or later; For 13.1 branch upgrade to 13.1-51.15 or later (or 13.1-37.176 for older 13.1 builds); For 14.1 branch upgrade to 14.1-12.35 or later.
  6. 6. Upload the new firmware build via the management interface (System > Firmware) or via CLI using 'install' command.
  7. 7. Reboot the NetScaler appliance after successful firmware installation.
  8. 8. Verify the new version is running using 'show version' and confirm management interface is accessible.
Caveat Review release notes for potential compatibility impacts; some legacy configurations or features may behave differently in newer builds; always test in non-production first

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

Fix this in Netscaler Application Delivery Controller Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2023-6548 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