Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-22737

Access Control in Wire ≤ 2022-12-09

Published
28 January 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0073 51th percentile
Risk Priority 51 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-22737 is a medium-severity Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges (CWE-280) vulnerability in Wire Wire. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 49% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

wire-server provides back end services for Wire, a team communication and collaboration platform. Prior to version 2022-12-09, every member of a Conversation can remove a Bot from a Conversation due to a missing permissions check. Only Conversation admins should be…

more

able to remove Bots. Regular Conversations are not allowed to do so. The issue is fixed in wire-server 2022-12-09 and is already deployed on all Wire managed services. On-premise instances of wire-server need to be updated to 2022-12-09/Chart 4.29.0, so that their backends are no longer affected. There are no known workarounds.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
T1556 Modify Authentication Process Defense Impairment
Adversaries may modify authentication mechanisms and processes to access user credentials or enable otherwise unwarranted access to accounts.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-6660Shared CWE-280, CWE-862
CVE-2024-4468Shared CWE-280, CWE-862
CVE-2023-2480Shared CWE-280, CWE-862
CVE-2025-43838Shared CWE-862
CVE-2023-7268Shared CWE-862
CVE-2024-1158Shared CWE-862
CVE-2024-37427Shared CWE-862
CVE-2025-59561Shared CWE-862
CVE-2025-31533Shared CWE-862
CVE-2024-35725Shared CWE-862

Affected Assets

wire
wire
≤ 2022-12-09

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 11 hardening rules · 5 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.2.2
  • V8.3.3

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-862

Requiring an access control policy ensures authorization checks are defined and applied for critical functions.

addresses: CWE-862

Reviews of access controls detect missing authorization checks on critical functions or resources.

addresses: CWE-862

Documenting permitted unauthenticated actions prevents missing authorization by making all exceptions explicit and subject to organizational review.

addresses: CWE-862

Requiring attribute association with information prevents authorization from being performed without necessary security or privacy context.

addresses: CWE-862

Mandating authorization prior to allowing remote connections addresses missing authorization for remote access.

addresses: CWE-862

Mandating authorization before wireless connections are allowed prevents missing authorization for wireless access.

addresses: CWE-862

The control requires authorization before allowing mobile device connections, directly mitigating missing authorization for system access.

addresses: CWE-862

Requiring approvals for account creation and specifying authorizations ensures authorization is not missing for system access.

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-05 full match
prevents

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

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data surfaces adverse events triggered by unhandled permission failures.

PR.PS-04 partial match
prevents

Generating logs of permission-related events enables detection and analysis of improper handling.

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.

finds

Security testing can detect missing or incorrect privilege handling.

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

Defines access-control policy that should prevent insufficient-privilege situations.

degrades

Specifies how access rights are granted, reviewed and revoked, directly addressing privilege handling.

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.

finds

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.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (4 rules)
  • V-248548 OL 8 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-280
  • V-248581 OL 8 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
  • V-248596 OL 8 must enable the SELinux targeted policy. prevents CWE-280
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-280
RHEL 7 (2 rules)
  • V-251704 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
  • V-204429 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
RHEL 9 (2 rules)
  • V-258078 RHEL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-280
  • V-272496 RHEL 9 must elevate the SELinux context when an administrator calls the sudo command. prevents CWE-280

References