Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:NSummary
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, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Default Accounts (T1078.001); 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…
more
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
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
—
—
- 15 hardening rules · 5 OS baselines
V6.2.2V6.3.1V6.3.2V6.4.2
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.
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 (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-01's credential issuance and key-management processes directly block most weak/default credential usage, yet leave hard-coded or product-design instances of CWE-1391 only partially addressed.
Password-strength policies in PR.AA-03 directly block weak authenticators, but the control leaves hard-coded/default credentials largely unaddressed.
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).
Hardened baselines and default-setting reviews directly block default/hard-coded creds (mostly), yet leave algorithmic guessing, reuse, and non-config sources of weak credentials untouched (partial).
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.
Training raises password-hygiene awareness and can therefore reduce some weak-credential mistakes, yet supplies no enforcement mechanism and leaves the dominant technical sources of CWE-1391 untouched.
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.
Directly requires secure generation, distribution and storage of authentication credentials, eliminating default/hard-coded weak passwords.
Mandates secure authentication mechanisms that preclude use of weak or default credentials.
Secure-coding rules can prohibit hard-coded passwords, yet coverage depends on specific coding standards adopted.
Security testing can discover weak credentials, but does not guarantee they are prevented by design.
Enforces secure baseline configurations that should remove default credentials, yet does not guarantee credential strength.
Mandating segregated approval and oversight for non-human identities reduces the chance that weak or orphaned credentials can be exploited for unauthorized authentication.
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 (3 rules)
- V-248827 OL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-1391, CWE-287
- V-248667 OL 8 must configure the use of the pam_faillock.so module in the /etc/pam.d/system-auth file. prevents CWE-1391
- V-248668 OL 8 must configure the use of the pam_faillock.so module in the /etc/pam.d/password-auth file. prevents CWE-1391
RHEL 7 (3 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-1391, CWE-287
- 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
- V-244533 RHEL 8 must configure the use of the pam_faillock.so module in the /etc/pam.d/system-auth file. prevents CWE-1391
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