CVE-2023-37398
Ibm Aspera Faspex 5.0.0 – 5.0.10
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NSummary
CVE-2023-37398 is a medium-severity Weak Password Requirements (CWE-521) vulnerability in Ibm Aspera Faspex. Its CVSS base score is 5.9 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Brute Force (T1110); ranked at the 25th 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 IA-5 (Authenticator Management) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2023-37398 is a vulnerability in IBM Aspera Faspex versions 5.0.0 through 5.0.10, where the software does not enforce strong passwords by default. This weakness, classified under CWE-521 (Weak Password Requirements), enables attackers to more readily compromise user accounts through password guessing or brute-force attempts. The issue carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.9 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N), reflecting network accessibility with high attack complexity but significant confidentiality impact.
Remote attackers require no privileges or user interaction to exploit this vulnerability over the network. The high attack complexity arises from the need to perform repeated authentication attempts against accounts protected only by weak or default passwords. Successful exploitation allows attackers to gain unauthorized access to compromised user accounts, potentially exposing sensitive data transferred via the Faspex platform.
IBM has published an advisory detailing mitigation steps at https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7181814, which security practitioners should consult for patching and configuration recommendations to enforce stronger password policies.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-41299
Vulnerability Data
IBM Aspera Faspex 5.0.0 through 5.0.10 does not require that users should have strong passwords by default, which makes it easier for attackers to compromise user accounts.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 2 hardening rules · 1 OS baseline
V6.2.4V6.2.9V6.2.12V6.4.1
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
IA-5 directly requires organizations to enforce strength, complexity, and change rules for passwords and other authenticators at issuance and reset.
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.
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.
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