Security Resilience

CVE-2023-1523

Canonical Ubuntu Linux 16.04 … 23.04

Public PoC
Published
01 September 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 10.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.014 73th percentile
Risk Priority 77 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-1523 is a critical-severity Injection (CWE-74) vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux. Its CVSS base score is 10.0 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 27% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Using the TIOCLINUX ioctl request, a malicious snap could inject contents into the input of the controlling terminal which could allow it to cause arbitrary commands to be executed outside of the snap sandbox after the snap exits. Graphical terminal…

more

emulators like xterm, gnome-terminal and others are not affected - this can only be exploited when snaps are run on a virtual console.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-35728Shared CWE-74
CVE-2023-29510Shared CWE-74
CVE-2023-29405Shared CWE-74
CVE-2020-8468Shared CWE-74
CVE-2023-45303Shared CWE-74
CVE-2026-45344Shared CWE-74
CVE-2023-48841Shared CWE-74
CVE-2023-43656Shared CWE-74
CVE-2023-49214Shared CWE-74
CVE-2025-20284Shared CWE-74

Affected Assets

canonical
snapd
≤ 2.59.5
canonical
ubuntu linux
16.04, 18.04, 20.04, 22.04, 22.10

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-74

Developer assessments and testing (including injection-focused techniques) identify improper neutralization of special elements, and the verifiable flaw remediation corrects them pre-deployment.

addresses: CWE-74

Identifies indicators of injection attacks (command, SQL, LDAP, etc.) via anomaly and attack monitoring.

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.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
finds

Logging supports detection of injection attempts but does not prevent the weakness.

finds

Monitoring activities can identify active injection attacks after they occur.

blocks

A.8.25 mandates a secure SDLC process that includes secure coding guidelines, security requirements, checkpoints, testing (scans/penetration), and developer training to reduce injection flaws, but does not itself enforce or guarantee neutralization of special elements at runtime.

blocks

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection attacks in software design.

blocks

A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (including distrust external input, data validation/sanitization, secure architecture layers, and design reviews against attack patterns) that reach injection when applied to output construction; this stops exploitation for a minority slice (e.g. where principles drive sanitization) but leaves most code-level injection defects untouched without further implementation rigor.

prevents

Secure coding standards require proper neutralization of special elements, directly addressing CWE-74.

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-74, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.

References