# CVE-2023-38738: IBM OpenPages with Watson information disclosure

> Attackers with database access can exploit weak native authentication to gain unauthorized access to other user accounts in IBM OpenPages.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **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:** 19 Jan 2024
- **Updated:** 16 Jun 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-p56m-3v53-439x

## What is CVE-2023-38738?

CVE-2023-38738 is a medium-severity vulnerability in IBM OpenPages with Watson, published on 19 Jan 2024. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM OpenPages with Watson 8.3 and 9.0 could provide weaker than expected security in a OpenPages environment using Native authentication. If OpenPages is using Native authentication an attacker with access to the OpenPages database could through a series of specially crafted steps could exploit this weakness and gain unauthorized access to other OpenPages accounts. IBM X-Force ID: 262594.

Weakness: CWE-257 (Storing Passwords in a Recoverable Format)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-38738?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Openpages With Watson.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-38738?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-38738 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-38738 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-38738 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in IBM OpenPages with Watson

- [CVE-2023-40683](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40683/): IBM OpenPages with Watson privilege escalation (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2021-29907](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-29907/): File upload in OpenPages with Watson (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2024-49781](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-49781/): IBM OpenPages XML external entity injection (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2024-49782](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-49782/): IBM OpenPages improper certificate validation (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2023-43039](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-43039/): IBM OpenPages with Watson cross-site scripting (medium 6.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-38738 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-38738 is a medium-severity vulnerability in IBM OpenPages with Watson, published on 19 Jan 2024. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-38738 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: IBM OpenPages with Watson. 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-2023-38738/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38738/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-38738
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-38738
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-38738

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38738/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.