# CVE-2023-34388: Improper authentication could lead to session hijacking

> Remote unauthenticated attackers can hijack sessions and bypass authentication on SEL-451 relays, requiring vendor patches.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 30 Nov 2023
- **Updated:** 3 Jun 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-592f-7j4r-r9vv

## What is CVE-2023-34388?

CVE-2023-34388 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories SEL-451, published on 30 Nov 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An Improper Authentication vulnerability in the Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories SEL-451 could allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to potentially perform session hijacking attack and bypass authentication.

See product Instruction Manual Appendix A dated 20230830 for more details.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-34388?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Selinc Sel-451 Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-34388?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-34388 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-34388 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-34388 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories SEL-451

- [CVE-2023-31176](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-31176/): Insufficient entropy vulnerability could lead to authentication bypass (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2023-34389](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34389/): Allocation of resources without limits could lead to denial of service (medium 4.5)
- [CVE-2023-34390](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34390/): Improper input validation could lead to denial of service (medium 4.5)
- [CVE-2023-31177](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-31177/): Improper neutralizataion of input could lead to execution of arbitrary code (medium 4.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-34388 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-34388 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories SEL-451, published on 30 Nov 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-34388 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories SEL-451. 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-2023-34388/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34388/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-34388
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-34388
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-34388

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34388/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.