# CVE-2023-4309: SQL injection in Internet Election Service

> Unauthenticated attackers can read or modify election data via SQL injection in the Internet Election Service.

- **Severity:** Critical 10.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/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:** 10 Oct 2023
- **Updated:** 18 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-ffh8-c8rh-cmp2

## What is CVE-2023-4309?

CVE-2023-4309 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability in Internet Election Service, published on 10 Oct 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Election Services Co. (ESC) Internet Election Service is vulnerable to SQL injection in multiple pages and parameters. These vulnerabilities allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to read or modify data for any elections that share the same backend database. ESC deactivated older and unused elections and enabled web application firewall (WAF) protection for current and future elections on or around 2023-08-12.

Weakness: CWE-89 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-4309?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Electionservicesco Internet Election Service.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-4309?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-4309 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-4309 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-4309 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-4309 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-4309 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability in Internet Election Service, published on 10 Oct 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-2023-4309 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Internet Election Service. 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-2023-4309/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-4309/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-4309
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-4309
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-4309

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-4309/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.