Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-29974

Pfsense 2.6.0

Published
08 November 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.018 76th percentile
Risk Priority 74 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-29974 is a critical-severity Weak Password Requirements (CWE-521) vulnerability in Pfsense Pfsense. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Brute Force (T1110); ranked in the top 24% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A07:2025 Authentication Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An issue discovered in Pfsense CE version 2.6.0 allows attackers to compromise user accounts via weak password requirements.

CWE(s)
CWE-521

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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 →
T1110.001 Password Guessing Credential Access
Adversaries with no prior knowledge of legitimate credentials within the system or environment may guess passwords to attempt access to accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1110.002 Password Cracking Credential Access
Adversaries may use password cracking to attempt to recover usable credentials, such as plaintext passwords, when credential material such as password hashes are obtained.
attack.mitre.org →
T1110.003 Password Spraying Credential Access
Adversaries may use a single or small list of commonly used passwords against many different accounts to attempt to acquire valid account credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1133 External Remote Services Persistence
Adversaries may leverage external-facing remote services to initially access and/or persist within a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1558.003 Kerberoasting Credential Access
Adversaries may abuse a valid Kerberos ticket-granting ticket (TGT) or sniff network traffic to obtain a ticket-granting service (TGS) ticket that may be vulnerable to [Brute Force](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-69691Same product: Pfsense Pfsense
CVE-2023-29975Same product: Pfsense Pfsense
CVE-2023-29973Same product: Pfsense Pfsense
CVE-2021-41282Same product: Pfsense Pfsense
CVE-2025-34178Same product: Pfsense Pfsense
CVE-2025-69690Same product: Pfsense Pfsense
CVE-2025-34177Same product: Pfsense Pfsense
CVE-2025-34174Same product: Pfsense Pfsense
CVE-2025-34175Same product: Pfsense Pfsense
CVE-2025-34176Same product: Pfsense Pfsense

Affected Assets

pfsense
pfsense
2.6.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.2.4
  • V6.2.9
  • V6.2.12
  • V6.4.1

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.

CM-6 Configuration Settings
addresses: CWE-521

Configuration settings can define and enforce strong password requirements to avoid weak policies.

IA-1 Policy and Procedures
addresses: CWE-521

IA policy establishes password requirements, directly addressing weak password requirements.

IA-5 Authenticator Management
addresses: CWE-521

Ensuring authenticators have sufficient strength of mechanism for intended use addresses weak password requirements.

PL-9 Central Management
addresses: CWE-521

Organization-wide password and authentication policies are applied uniformly, preventing weak local password requirements.

PM-15 Security and Privacy Groups and Associations
addresses: CWE-521

Facilitated training and awareness of current practices improves definition and enforcement of sufficiently strong password requirements.

PM-3 Information Security and Privacy Resources
addresses: CWE-521

Dedicated security resources support deployment of strong authentication systems and enforcement of robust password policies.

RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning
addresses: CWE-521

Vulnerability scans assess password policies and weak credential requirements against benchmarks.

SA-5 System Documentation
addresses: CWE-521

User documentation on maintaining security includes password requirements, directly mitigating weak password policies.

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-03 full match
prevents

Explicitly requires enforcing minimum password strength as part of authentication.

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.5.17 Authentication information mostly match
prevents

Enforcing minimum length, complexity, non-dictionary, and non-reuse rules directly counters weak password policies that allow attackers to guess or brute-force credentials.

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).

RHEL 7 (2 rules)
  • V-204424 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not allow accounts configured with blank or null passwords. prevents CWE-521
  • 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-521

References