curl HSTS Cache Overwrite <7.88.0 during Parallel Transfers
CVE-2023-23915 Published on February 23, 2023
A cleartext transmission of sensitive information vulnerability exists in curl <v7.88.0 that could cause HSTS functionality to behave incorrectly when multiple URLs are requested in parallel. Using its HSTS support, curl can be instructed to use HTTPS instead of using an insecure clear-text HTTP step even when HTTP is provided in the URL. This HSTS mechanism would however surprisingly fail when multiple transfers are done in parallel as the HSTS cache file gets overwritten by the most recentlycompleted transfer. A later HTTP-only transfer to the earlier host name would then *not* get upgraded properly to HSTS.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2023-23915 can be exploited with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have a small impact on confidentiality and integrity, and no impact on availability.
Weakness Type
Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
The software transmits sensitive or security-critical data in cleartext in a communication channel that can be sniffed by unauthorized actors. Many communication channels can be "sniffed" by attackers during data transmission. For example, network traffic can often be sniffed by any attacker who has access to a network interface. This significantly lowers the difficulty of exploitation by attackers.
Products Associated with CVE-2023-23915
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Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.