Security Resilience

CVE-2023-2915

Path Traversal in Rockwellautomation Thinmanager Thinserver 11.0.0 – 11.0.6

High EPSSPath Traversal
Published
17 August 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.82 99.6th percentile
Risk Priority 83 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-2023-2915 is a high-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Rockwellautomation Thinmanager Thinserver. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked in the top 0.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV 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.

The Rockwell Automation Thinmanager Thinserver is affected by CVE-2023-2915, an improper input validation vulnerability that manifests as a path traversal flaw (CWE-20, CWE-22) when the software processes a specific function. The issue permits deletion of arbitrary files with system-level privileges and carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 reflecting network attack vector, low complexity, and no required credentials or user interaction.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger the flaw by transmitting a crafted synchronization protocol message, resulting in arbitrary file deletion that produces a denial-of-service condition. The EPSS score has remained near 0.10 with only minor fluctuation between its current value of 0.1029 and recorded peak of 0.1088.

Advisories addressing the issue are available at https://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/1140471.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access ControlA05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

The Rockwell Automation Thinmanager Thinserver is impacted by an improper input validation vulnerability, Due to improper input validation, a path traversal vulnerability exists when the ThinManager software processes a certain function. If exploited, an unauthenticated remote threat actor can delete…

more

arbitrary files with system privileges. A malicious user could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specifically crafted synchronization protocol message resulting in a denial-of-service condition.

CWE(s)
CWE-20CWE-22

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
attack.mitre.org →
T1016.001 Internet Connection Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may check for Internet connectivity on compromised systems.
attack.mitre.org →
T1018 Remote System Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of other systems by IP address, hostname, or other logical identifier on a network that may be used for Lateral Movement from the current system.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-2917Same product: Rockwellautomation Thinmanager Thinserver
CVE-2023-27856Same vendor: Rockwellautomation
CVE-2023-27855Same vendor: Rockwellautomation
CVE-2024-7961Same vendor: Rockwellautomation
CVE-2025-9064Same vendor: Rockwellautomation
CVE-2023-2913Same vendor: Rockwellautomation
CVE-2026-20685Shared CWE-20, CWE-22
CVE-2024-48914Shared CWE-20, CWE-22
CVE-2024-28977Shared CWE-20, CWE-22
CVE-2020-3248Shared CWE-20, CWE-22

Affected Assets

rockwellautomation
thinmanager thinserver
13.1.0 · 11.0.0 — 11.0.6 · 11.1.0 — 11.1.6 · 11.2.0 — 11.2.7

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

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.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-20 CWE-22

Directly implements checks on information inputs to reject invalid data before processing.

PM-14 Testing, Training, and Monitoring
addresses: CWE-20

Security testing and developer training directly verify and enforce proper input validation, reducing exploitability of injection and malformed-data weaknesses.

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation
addresses: CWE-20

Security testing and evaluation at multiple SDLC stages directly detects missing or flawed input validation, with the required remediation process ensuring fixes are applied.

SI-8 Spam Protection
addresses: CWE-20

Spam protection mechanisms perform filtering and detection on inbound/outbound messages, directly compensating for missing or weak input validation of unsolicited content.

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-02 partial match
blocks

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.AA-05 none match
blocks

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

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.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

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-20, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.

References