CVE-2023-32156

Race Condition in Tesla Model 3 Firmware 2023.6

Race Condition

Published

03 May 2024

Modified

13 August 2025

CVSS Score v3.1 8.8

Click a component to see what it means

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Score 0.0043 36th percentile

Risk Priority 64 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-2023-32156 is a high-severity Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition (CWE-367) vulnerability in Tesla Model 3 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Security Account Manager (T1003.002); ranked at the 36th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-25 (Reference Monitor) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-36424

Vulnerability Data

Tesla Model 3 Gateway Firmware Signature Validation Bypass Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows network-adjacent attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected Tesla Model 3 vehicles. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute privileged code on the Tesla infotainment system…

in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the handling of firmware updates. The issue results from improper error-handling during the update process. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of Tesla's Gateway ECU. . Was ZDI-CAN-20734.

CWE(s): CWE-367 NVD-CWE-noinfo

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003.002 Security Account Manager Credential Access

Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored.

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 →

T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access

Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.

attack.mitre.org →

T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery

Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.

attack.mitre.org →

T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery Discovery

Adversaries may look for details about the network configuration and settings, such as IP and/or MAC addresses, of systems they access or through information discovery of remote systems.

attack.mitre.org →

Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-32155Same product: Tesla Model 3

CVE-2024-6029Same vendor: Tesla

CVE-2023-32157Same product: Tesla Model 3

CVE-2025-2082Same product: Tesla Model 3

CVE-2024-1563Shared CWE-367

CVE-2025-38112Shared CWE-367

CVE-2023-26299Shared CWE-367

CVE-2025-39713Shared CWE-367

CVE-2026-1035Shared CWE-367

CVE-2023-52478Shared CWE-367

Affected Assets

tesla

model 3 firmware

2023.6

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)

V15.4.2
V17.2.6

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-25 Reference Monitor good match

A reference monitor that is always invoked and analyzable structurally eliminates the non-atomic check-then-use pattern underlying TOCTOU.

AC-3 Access Enforcement partial match

Access enforcement that performs an atomic check-and-use decision directly stops the window in which a TOCTOU race can be exploited.

SC-39 Process Isolation partial match

Process isolation limits the blast radius of a successful TOCTOU exploitation but does not remove the race itself.

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 partial match

blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly include coding standards and reviews that prevent TOCTOU race conditions.

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