Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:NCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-3470 is a medium-severity Use of Weak Credentials (CWE-1391) vulnerability in F5 Big-Ip Access Policy Manager. Its CVSS base score is 6.0 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked at the 7th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-44131
Vulnerability Data
Specific F5 BIG-IP platforms with Cavium Nitrox FIPS HSM cards generate a deterministic password for the Crypto User account. The predictable nature of the password allows an authenticated user with TMSH access to the BIG-IP system, or anyone with physical…
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access to the FIPS HSM, the information required to generate the correct password. On vCMP systems, all Guests share the same deterministic password, allowing those with TMSH access on one Guest to access keys of a different Guest. The following BIG-IP hardware platforms are affected: 10350v-F, i5820-DF, i7820-DF, i15820-DF, 5250v-F, 7200v-F, 10200v-F, 6900-F, 8900-F, 11000-F, and 11050-F. The BIG-IP rSeries r5920-DF and r10920-DF are not affected, nor does the issue affect software FIPS implementations or network HSM configurations. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
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.
Directly requires implementation of compliant authentication mechanisms to cryptographic modules, preventing improper authentication.
Detects unauthorized successful logons resulting from improper authentication implementations.
Documented procedures ensure personnel are trained on authentication mechanisms, tangibly lowering the risk of improper authentication being exploited.
Security awareness training instructs users on secure authentication practices and avoiding credential compromise.
Training on authentication mechanisms and best practices decreases the occurrence of improper authentication.
Non-repudiation requires strong authentication mechanisms to irrefutably attribute performed actions to specific individuals or processes.
Session content review can reveal authentication bypasses or failures in session establishment.
Review of authentication-related audit records can detect improper authentication mechanisms or bypasses.
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.
Mandating segregated approval and oversight for non-human identities reduces the chance that weak or orphaned credentials can be exploited for unauthorized authentication.
A.5.17 mandates generation of non-guessable unique credentials, immediate change of defaults/temporary secrets, strong password enforcement, no reuse, blocking of compromised passwords, and secure transmission/storage; this stops exploitation of weak/guessable/default credentials for most but not all cases in CWE-1391 (e.g. leaves some non-password credential forms or post-compromise reuse outside its explicit scope).
Restricts privileged accounts but does not explicitly address default or hard-coded credentials for those accounts.
Requires security activities throughout the SDLC that can catch weak credentials, but does not mandate their elimination.
A.8.26 explicitly requires identifying and addressing authentication-related requirements (including level of trust in identity via 8.5 and 5.17) as part of application development or acquisition, which prevents a slice of CWE-287 but leaves the dominant sufficiency-of-proof aspects (IA-2/IA-5) and many implementation defects untouched.
A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (least privilege, default-deny, never-trust/always-verify, MFA, end-to-end encryption of requests, distrust-external-input, secure session control, and explicit authentication/authorization in every layer), which directly stops most improper-authentication flaws from being exploitable; the bounded remainder is insufficient-proof cases that live only in the strength or correctness of the credential itself (IA-5/IA-2 territory).
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.