Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2023-28461 is a critical-severity Improper Authentication (CWE-287) vulnerability in Arraynetworks Arrayos Ag. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 0.7% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2023-28461 is an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability affecting Array Networks Array AG Series and vxAG appliances running version 9.4.0.481 and earlier. The flaw stems from missing authentication checks that allow an attacker to traverse the filesystem on the SSL VPN gateway by supplying a flags attribute in an HTTP header, after which a vulnerable URL can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code on the device.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue over the network to achieve full compromise of the affected gateway, including reading or writing arbitrary files and executing commands with high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 reflects the absence of required credentials or user interaction and the complete scope of access once the initial filesystem access is obtained.
Vendor guidance issued on 9 March 2023 states that a patched Array AG release would be made available soon; the referenced security advisory from Array Networks provides additional details on the affected builds and remediation steps. The vulnerability is also listed in CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, confirming observed in-the-wild exploitation.
The associated EPSS score has reached 0.8929, indicating substantial exploitation interest following public disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-32140
Vulnerability Data
Array Networks Array AG Series and vxAG (9.4.0.481 and earlier) allow remote code execution. An attacker can browse the filesystem on the SSL VPN gateway using a flags attribute in an HTTP header without authentication. The product could then be…
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exploited through a vulnerable URL. The 2023-03-09 vendor advisory stated "a new Array AG release with the fix will be available soon."
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 25 November 2024
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 14 hardening rules · 5 OS baselines
V6.4.4V6.5.4V6.5.5V6.5.7
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.
Session content review can reveal authentication bypasses or failures in session establishment.
Assessments check authentication mechanisms for correct implementation and effectiveness, reducing successful authentication bypass attempts.
Documented IA policy and procedures require proper authentication mechanisms to be defined and followed, reducing improper authentication.
Requires adaptive authentication under specific conditions, directly strengthening authentication mechanisms against improper or insufficient authentication.
Identity providers centralize and enforce authentication mechanisms, reducing improper authentication.
Requires unique identification and authentication of organizational users, directly preventing improper authentication.
Enforces unique device identification and authentication before any connection is established, directly mitigating improper authentication weaknesses.
Directly requires implementation of compliant authentication mechanisms to cryptographic modules, preventing improper authentication.
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.
Directly requires authentication of users/services/hardware, which eliminates missing authentication for critical functions.
PR.AA-04 directly enables verification of identity assertions (mostly preventing CWE-287 in that scope) yet leaves many other authentication failure modes unaddressed (only partial prevention overall).
PR.AA-01 supplies and governs credentials/tokens that authentication relies on, removing some weak-credential cases, yet leaves verification logic, missing checks, and protocol flaws untouched.
PR.AA-02 ensures valid enrollment and unique credential binding, which reduces some improper-auth risks at issuance time but leaves runtime claim verification untouched, so each direction only partially addresses the other.
Defining and enforcing authorizations assumes prior authentication and therefore only partially mitigates the absence of authentication.
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.
Requiring authentication methods whose strength matches the sensitivity of the data and mandating multi-factor authentication directly blocks attempts to access resources without proving identity.
Verifying user identity before issuing replacement credentials and forcing changes after compromise reduces the likelihood that authentication bypass can be achieved through stolen or weak credentials.
Mandating segregated approval and oversight for non-human identities reduces the chance that weak or orphaned credentials can be exploited for unauthorized authentication.
Mandating authentication requirements for critical functions at the requirements-gathering stage ensures that essential operations are not left unprotected by missing login or verification mechanisms.
Requiring authentication mechanisms and technical parameters for secure connections ensures that network services verify user identity before granting access, preventing exploitation of missing or weak authentication.
Security requirements specified early and verified through testing drive the consistent implementation of authentication mechanisms, decreasing the likelihood that authentication steps are omitted or incorrectly applied.
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 (2 rules)
- V-248827 OL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-287, CWE-306
- V-248585 OL 8 must require reauthentication when using the "sudo" command. prevents CWE-306
RHEL 7 (4 rules)
- V-204425 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that the SSH daemon does not allow authentication using an empty password. prevents CWE-287
- V-204442 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-287, CWE-306
- V-204424 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not allow accounts configured with blank or null passwords. prevents CWE-287
RHEL 8 (2 rules)
- V-230492 RHEL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-287, CWE-306
- V-237643 RHEL 8 must require re-authentication when using the "sudo" command. prevents CWE-306
Ubuntu 22.04 (1 rule)
- V-260470 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, when booted, must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes. prevents CWE-287
Ubuntu 24.04 (2 rules)
- V-270675 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS when booted must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes. prevents CWE-287
- V-270714 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS must not allow accounts configured in Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) with blank or null passwords. prevents CWE-287