# CVE-2023-32707: ‘edit_user’ Capability Privilege Escalation

> Low-privileged users with edit_user capability can escalate to admin privileges via crafted web requests in Splunk Enterprise and Cloud.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 1 Jun 2023
- **Updated:** 11 Mar 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-m653-m4xm-rxrr

## What is CVE-2023-32707?

CVE-2023-32707 is a high-severity vulnerability in Splunk Splunk, published on 1 Jun 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In versions of Splunk Enterprise below 9.0.5, 8.2.11, and 8.1.14, and Splunk Cloud Platform below version 9.0.2303.100, a low-privileged user who holds a role that has the ‘edit_user’ capability assigned to it can escalate their privileges to that of the admin user by providing specially crafted web requests.

Weakness: CWE-285 (Improper Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-32707?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Splunk Splunk, Splunk Splunk Cloud Platform.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-32707?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-32707 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-32707 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-32707 exists.

Public exploit code:

- An improved POC exploit based on the reported CVE on exploitdb (github_poc): https://github.com/9xN/CVE-2023-32707
- Splunk "edit_user" Capability Privilege Escalation (metasploit)
- Splunk 9.0.5 - admin account take over (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Splunk Splunk

- [CVE-2026-20253](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20253/): Splunk Enterprise Missing Authentication for Critical Function (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-76268](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76268/): Missing Authentication for Critical Function in the Patroni REST API in Splunk Enterprise (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-76284](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76284/): Improper Neutralization in Splunk Enterprise (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-76285](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76285/): Improper Adherence to Coding Standards in Splunk Enterprise (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-17067](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17067/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-32707 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-32707 is a high-severity vulnerability in Splunk Splunk, published on 1 Jun 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-32707 exists.

Affected product: Splunk Splunk. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-32707/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-32707/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-32707
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-32707
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-32707

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-32707/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.