Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-38285

DoS in Owasp Modsecurity 3.0.0 – 3.0.10

Published
26 July 2023
Modified
03 July 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0090 56th percentile
Risk Priority 59 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-38285 is a high-severity Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity (CWE-407) vulnerability in Owasp Modsecurity. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499); ranked in the top 44% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Trustwave ModSecurity 3.x before 3.0.10 has Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
T1499.003 Application Exhaustion Flood Impact
Adversaries may target resource intensive features of applications to cause a denial of service (DoS), denying availability to those applications.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-48866Same product: Owasp Modsecurity
CVE-2023-28882Same product: Owasp Modsecurity
CVE-2026-42268Same product: Owasp Modsecurity
CVE-2026-52761Same product: Owasp Modsecurity
CVE-2026-52747Same product: Owasp Modsecurity
CVE-2026-30923Same product: Owasp Modsecurity
CVE-2024-1019Same product: Owasp Modsecurity
CVE-2025-54571Same product: Owasp Modsecurity
CVE-2024-21909Shared CWE-407
CVE-2023-4408Shared CWE-407

Affected Assets

owasp
modsecurity
3.0.0 — 3.0.10

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)
  • V1.2.9

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.

addresses: CWE-407

Addresses inefficient algorithms whose complexity can be exploited for DoS.

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 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices (code review, complexity analysis, safe algorithm selection) prevent introduction of exploitable worst-case behavior.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and resources can detect the performance impact of triggered worst-case complexity.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying and recording algorithmic-complexity vulnerabilities directly addresses the root cause before exploitation.

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.

finds

Security testing can uncover performance issues stemming from algorithmic complexity.

mitigates

Redundancy of processing facilities can absorb resource exhaustion from inefficient algorithms.

finds

Monitoring activities can identify anomalous resource consumption indicative of algorithmic complexity attacks.

prevents

Secure development life cycle includes design reviews that can catch inefficient algorithms before deployment.

prevents

Secure system architecture principles encourage selection of algorithms with acceptable worst-case complexity.

prevents

Secure coding practices can include guidelines to avoid or mitigate inefficient algorithms.

References