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Dependency CheckApplication · Owasp

CVE-2024-23686

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-01-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.0.6 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
DependencyCheck for Maven 9.0.0 to 9.0.6, for CLI version 9.0.0 to 9.0.5, and for Ant versions 9.0.0 to 9.0.5, when used in debug mode, allows an attacker to recover the NVD API Key from a log file.

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 confidence

DependencyCheck versions 9.0.0-9.0.6 (Maven), 9.0.0-9.0.5 (CLI and Ant) leak the NVD API Key into log files when debug mode is enabled. An attacker with access to those log files can recover the exposed API key.

MitigationDisable debug mode in production environments, restrict access to log files, and rotate any NVD API keys that may have been exposed. Consider upgrading to a patched version when available.

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
Dependency CheckApplication
Affected:>= 9.0.0, <= 9.0.5>= 9.0.0, < 9.0.6

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
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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 checks

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

  1. Identify Dependency Check version
    Run 'mvn dependency-check:version' for Maven, 'dependency-check --version' for CLI, or check the dependency-check JAR version file
    Affected if version is 9.0.0-9.0.5 (CLI/Ant) or 9.0.0-9.0.6 (Maven)
  2. Locate Dependency Check configuration
    Find the dependency-check configuration file (pom.xml for Maven, build.xml for Ant, or command-line arguments for CLI)
    Affected if debug mode or verbose logging is enabled in the configuration
  3. Search log files for NVD API key patterns
    Search log directories for log files containing 'NVD' or 'api' or 'key' in combination, using grep or similar tools to find entries like 'nvd.api.key' or API key values
    Affected if log files contain any NVD API key values or references
  4. Review recent debug logs for credential exposure
    Examine debug-level log files generated by Dependency Check for any string patterns resembling API keys (typically 40+ character alphanumeric strings)
    Affected if debug logs from Dependency Check runs contain exposed credential data

A user is affected if they are running a vulnerable version (9.0.0-9.0.5 for CLI/Ant or 9.0.0-9.0.6 for Maven) with debug mode enabled and have NVD API keys present in their log files.

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 9.0.6 or later
Fixed in 9.0.6
Interim mitigation

Disable debug mode in production environments, restrict access to log files, and rotate any NVD API keys that may have been exposed. Consider upgrading to a patched version when available.

Recommended fix High confidence

Dependency-Check 9.0.6 (CLI and Ant) or 9.0.7 (Maven)

  1. 1. Identify the specific Dependency-Check component in use (Maven plugin, CLI, or Ant task)
  2. 2. For Maven plugin users: Upgrade to version 9.0.7 or later by updating the dependency-check-maven plugin version in pom.xml
  3. 3. For CLI users: Download and install Dependency-Check CLI version 9.0.6 or later from the official releases
  4. 4. For Ant task users: Update the dependency-check-ant version to 9.0.6 or later in build.xml
  5. 5. After upgrading, verify the NVD API Key is no longer written to logs when running in debug mode
  6. 6. If debug mode is still needed, review log files for any previously leaked API keys and rotate the NVD API Key if necessary
Caveat Users should review any version-specific behavior changes in the release notes before upgrading

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

Fix this in Dependency Check Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $910
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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-2024-23686 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