# CVE-2023-40453: Denial of service in n/a

> An attacker controlling a worker node can cause denial of service or trick administrators via crafted version data in unsupported Docker Machine.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 14 Aug 2023
- **Updated:** 9 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-rcxc-fhh3-qjq9

## What is CVE-2023-40453?

CVE-2023-40453 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 14 Aug 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Docker Machine through 0.16.2 allows an attacker, who has control of a worker node, to provide crafted version data, which might potentially trick an administrator into performing an unsafe action (via escape sequence injection), or might have a data size that causes a denial of service to a bastion node. NOTE: This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer.

Weakness: CWE-116 (Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-40453?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Docker Machine.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-40453?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-40453 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-40453 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-40453 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-40453 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-40453 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 14 Aug 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-40453 exists.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2023-40453/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40453/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-40453
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40453
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-40453

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40453/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.