# CVE-2023-38505: DietPi-Dashboard Insufficient TLS Handshake Pool

> An attacker can cause a denial of service by initiating a TLS connection and never completing the handshake, blocking legitimate users from accessing the dashboard.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 27 Jul 2023
- **Updated:** 10 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-3jr4-9rxf-fr44

## What is CVE-2023-38505?

CVE-2023-38505 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in ravenclaw900 DietPi-Dashboard, published on 27 Jul 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

DietPi-Dashboard is a web dashboard for the operating system DietPi. The dashboard only allows for one TLS handshake to be in process at a given moment. Once a TCP connection is established in HTTPS mode, it will assume that it should be waiting for a handshake, and will stay this way indefinitely until a handshake starts or some error occurs. In version 0.6.1, this can be exploited by simply not starting the handshake, preventing any other TLS handshakes from getting through. An attacker can lock the dashboard in a state where it is waiting for a TLS handshake from the attacker, who won't provide it. This prevents any legitimate traffic from getting to the dashboard, and can last indefinitely. Version 0.6.2 has a patch for this issue. As a workaround, do not use HTTPS mode on the open internet where anyone can connect. Instead, put a reverse proxy in front of the dashboard, and have it handle any HTTPS connections.

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking), CWE-412 (Unrestricted Externally Accessible Lock), CWE-410 (Insufficient Resource Pool)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-38505?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Dietpi-Dashboard Project Dietpi-Dashboard.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-38505?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-38505 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-38505 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-38505 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-38505 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-38505 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in ravenclaw900 DietPi-Dashboard, published on 27 Jul 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-38505 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: ravenclaw900 DietPi-Dashboard. 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-2023-38505/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38505/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-38505
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-38505
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-38505

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38505/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
