# CVE-2023-38734: IBM Robotic Process Automation privilege escalation

> Attackers can gain elevated privileges by exploiting incorrect privilege assignment during LDAP user imports in IBM Robotic Process Automation.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Aug 2023
- **Updated:** 3 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x3qh-7758-4h7p

## What is CVE-2023-38734?

CVE-2023-38734 is a medium-severity vulnerability in IBM Robotic Process Automation, published on 22 Aug 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM Robotic Process Automation 21.0.0 through 21.0.7.1 and 23.0.0 through 23.0.1 is vulnerable to incorrect privilege assignment when importing users from an LDAP directory.  IBM X-Force ID:  262481.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-38734?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Robotic Process Automation.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-38734?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-38734 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-38734 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-38734 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in IBM Robotic Process Automation

- [CVE-2022-30616](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-30616/): Privilege escalation in Robotic Process Automation (high 8.0)
- [CVE-2022-43574](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-43574/): Missing authorization in IBM Robotic Process Automation (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2024-51448](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-51448/): IBM Robotic Process Automation privilege escalation (medium 6.7)
- [CVE-2024-49824](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-49824/): IBM Robotic Process Automation security bypass (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2022-36774](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-36774/): Security feature bypass in Robotic Process Automation (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-38734 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-38734 is a medium-severity vulnerability in IBM Robotic Process Automation, published on 22 Aug 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-38734 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: IBM Robotic Process Automation. 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-2023-38734/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38734/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-38734
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-38734
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-38734

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38734/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.