# CVE-2023-43508: Authorization Bypass Leading to Privilege Escalation in ClearPass Policy Manager Web-Based Management Interface

> An attacker with read-only privileges can perform unauthorized state-changing actions in the ClearPass Policy Manager web interface, leading to privilege escalation.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **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:** 24 Oct 2023
- **Updated:** 11 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-67w3-8vjj-xpmw

## What is CVE-2023-43508?

CVE-2023-43508 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Arubanetworks Clearpass Policy Manager, published on 24 Oct 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Vulnerabilities in the web-based management interface of ClearPass Policy Manager allow an attacker with read-only privileges to perform actions that change the state of the ClearPass Policy Manager instance. Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities allow an attacker to complete state-changing actions in the web-based management interface that should not be allowed by their current level of authorization on the platform.

Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-43508?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Arubanetworks Clearpass Policy Manager.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-43508?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-43508 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-43508 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-43508 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Arubanetworks Clearpass Policy Manager

- [CVE-2022-23657](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23657/): Auth bypass in Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2022-23658](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23658/): Auth bypass in Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2022-23660](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23660/): Auth bypass in Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2023-25589](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-25589/): Unauthenticated Arbitrary User Creation Leads to Complete System Compromise (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-37736](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-37736/): Auth bypass in Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-43508 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-43508 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Arubanetworks Clearpass Policy Manager, published on 24 Oct 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-43508 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Arubanetworks Clearpass Policy Manager. 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-2023-43508/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-43508/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-43508
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-43508
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-43508

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-43508/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.