Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-1540

Answer ≤ 1.0.6

Public PoC
Published
21 March 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0064 47th percentile
Risk Priority 45 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-1540 is a medium-severity Observable Response Discrepancy (CWE-204) vulnerability in Answer Answer. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Account Discovery (T1087); ranked at the 47th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Observable Response Discrepancy in GitHub repository answerdev/answer prior to 1.0.6.

CWE(s)
CWE-204CWE-203

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1087 Account Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of valid accounts, usernames, or email addresses on a system or within a compromised environment.
attack.mitre.org →
T1087.001 Local Account Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of local system accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1087.002 Domain Account Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of domain accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1087.003 Email Account Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of email addresses and accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1087.004 Cloud Account Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of cloud accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1110 Brute Force Credential Access
Adversaries may use brute force techniques to gain access to accounts when passwords are unknown or when password hashes are obtained.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-1538Same product: Answer Answer
CVE-2023-1539Same product: Answer Answer
CVE-2023-4125Same product: Answer Answer
CVE-2023-1976Same product: Answer Answer
CVE-2023-1541Same product: Answer Answer
CVE-2023-0740Same product: Answer Answer
CVE-2023-1535Same product: Answer Answer
CVE-2023-0934Same product: Answer Answer
CVE-2023-0742Same product: Answer Answer
CVE-2023-1543Same product: Answer Answer

Affected Assets

answer
answer
≤ 1.0.6

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 1 hardening rule · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V13.4.5

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.

SC-30 Concealment and Misdirection
addresses: CWE-203 CWE-204

Misdirection can normalize or falsify responses to eliminate observable discrepancies that aid reconnaissance.

SI-11 Error Handling
addresses: CWE-203 CWE-204

Prevents attackers from using observable differences in error responses to infer internal system details or state.

SC-31 Covert Channel Analysis
addresses: CWE-203

Observable discrepancies in system behavior can be modulated to create covert storage or timing channels; the required analysis detects and constrains such avenues.

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.PS-06 full match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent introduction of inconsistent response behavior that leaks internal state.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect observable response discrepancies before deployment.

A.8.20 Networks security partial match
mitigates

Network security controls can enforce uniform responses and suppress observable discrepancies.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices include error-handling and response standardization to avoid information disclosure.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements typically mandate consistent, non-revealing error messages.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles discourage designs that leak internal state via differing responses.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly require uniform error handling to prevent information leakage.

References