# CVE-2023-32712: Unauthenticated Log Injection in Splunk Enterprise

> Attackers inject ANSI escape codes into logs, potentially causing code execution when read by vulnerable terminal applications.

- **Severity:** High 8.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 1 Jun 2023
- **Updated:** 28 Feb 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v72v-m6vq-49vh

## What is CVE-2023-32712?

CVE-2023-32712 is a high-severity vulnerability in Splunk Splunk, published on 1 Jun 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

In Splunk Enterprise versions below 9.1.0.2, 9.0.5.1, and 8.2.11.2, an attacker can inject American National Standards Institute (ANSI) escape codes into Splunk log files that, when a vulnerable terminal application reads them, can potentially, at worst, result in possible code execution in the vulnerable application. This attack requires a user to use a terminal application that supports the translation of ANSI escape codes to read the malicious log file locally in the vulnerable terminal, and to perform additional user interaction to exploit.
Universal Forwarder versions 9.1.0.1, 9.0.5, 8.2.11, and lower can be vulnerable in situations where they have management services active and accessible over the network. Universal Forwarder versions 9.0.x and 9.1.x bind management services to the local machine and are not vulnerable in this specific configuration. See SVD-2022-0605 for more information. Universal Forwarder versions 9.1 use Unix Domain Sockets (UDS) for communication, which further reduces the potential attack surface.
The vulnerability does not directly affect Splunk Enterprise or Universal Forwarder. The indirect impact on Splunk Enterprise and Universal Forwarder can vary significantly depending on the permissions in the vulnerable terminal application and where and how the user reads the malicious log file. For example, users can copy the malicious file from the Splunk Enterprise instance and read it on their local machine.

Weakness: CWE-116 (Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output), CWE-117 (Improper Output Neutralization for Logs)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-32712?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Splunk Splunk.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-32712?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-32712 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-32712 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-32712 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## 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-2023-32712 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-32712 is a high-severity vulnerability in Splunk Splunk, published on 1 Jun 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-32712 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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-2023-32712/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-32712/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-32712
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-32712
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-32712

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-32712/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.