Cyber Resilience

CVE-2022-23944

Access Control in Apache Shenyu 2.4.0 … 2.4.1

Published
25 January 2022
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.79 99.6th percentile
Risk Priority 92 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2022-23944 is a critical-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Apache Shenyu. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and IA-2 (Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

Apache ShenYu versions 2.4.0 and 2.4.1 are affected by a missing authentication vulnerability that permits access to the /plugin API endpoint without any credentials. The flaw is tracked under CWE-862 and CWE-306 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.1, reflecting network attackability with no required privileges or user interaction.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can directly invoke the unprotected API to read or modify plugin configuration and related data, resulting in high impact to confidentiality and integrity while leaving availability unaffected.

Public advisories issued via the Apache mailing lists and OpenWall lists describe the exposure and point administrators to updated releases that enforce proper authentication on the endpoint.

The CVE maintains an EPSS score near its recorded peak of 0.9024, indicating sustained exploitation interest after public disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

User can access /plugin api without authentication. This issue affected Apache ShenYu 2.4.0 and 2.4.1.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
Unauthenticated access to the /plugin API endpoint allows remote exploitation of a public-facing application without credentials.
T1078 Valid Accounts Stealthconfidence: MEDIUM
Missing authentication on an administrative endpoint effectively permits use of the application without valid account checks.
T1213 Data from Information Repositories Collectionconfidence: MEDIUM
Direct access to the plugin configuration API enables reading data from an information repository.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-27446Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-51650Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-50944Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2025-32896Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-28326Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2024-45461Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2024-23944Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-46819Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-26269Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2024-27906Same vendor: Apache

Affected Assets

apache
shenyu
2.4.0, 2.4.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • IA-2 Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 11 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.2.3
  • V6.4.4
  • V10.4.16
  • V12.1.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly enforces authentication and authorization checks on the /plugin API endpoint to block unauthenticated access.

prevent

Requires identification and authentication of users before allowing any access to the unprotected plugin configuration API.

prevent

Limits privileges granted to any successfully authenticated session, reducing impact if the missing-auth flaw is partially mitigated.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-03 full match
prevents

Directly requires authentication of users/services/hardware, which eliminates missing authentication for critical functions.

PR.AA-05 full match
prevents

Explicitly requires defining, enforcing, and reviewing authorizations and least privilege, directly preventing missing authorization checks.

PR.AA-01 partial match
prevents

Managing identities and credentials is a prerequisite for authentication but does not itself enforce it on critical functions.

PR.IR-01 partial match
prevents

Protecting networks from unauthorized access can be undermined by missing authentication but does not address the root authentication gap.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

prevents

The control explicitly calls for authentication before any critical function is reached, eliminating the possibility of bypassing authentication for high-value operations.

prevents

Requiring authentication and credentials before any access occurs eliminates the absence of authorization checks that would otherwise allow an unauthenticated actor to reach protected resources.

prevents

Requiring formal authorization of every access request before rights are granted ensures that checks for required permissions are performed, preventing missing authorization checks from being introduced.

prevents

Mandatory authorization checks and central records of granted rights ensure that every access attempt is preceded by an explicit decision rather than relying on missing checks.

mitigates

Segregating the approval of access rights from their implementation provides an independent check that reduces the impact of missing authorization checks in the resulting system configuration.

detects

By requiring competent outsiders to verify that every function enforces the need-to-know principle, the control lowers the likelihood that missing authorization checks persist undetected.

References