CVE-2023-38293
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:LSummary
CVE-2023-38293 is a high-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Defcon (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 47% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-42112
Vulnerability Data
Certain software builds for the Nokia C200 and Nokia C100 Android devices contain a vulnerable, pre-installed app with a package name of com.tracfone.tfstatus (versionCode='31', versionName='12') that allows local third-party apps to execute arbitrary AT commands in its context (radio user)…
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via AT command injection due to inadequate access control and inadequate input filtering. No permissions or special privileges are necessary to exploit the vulnerability in the com.tracfone.tfstatus app. No user interaction is required beyond installing and running a third-party app. The software build fingerprints for each confirmed vulnerable device are as follows: Nokia C200 (Nokia/Drake_02US/DRK:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_080:user/release-keys and Nokia/Drake_02US/DRK:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_040:user/release-keys) and Nokia C100 (Nokia/DrakeLite_02US/DKT:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_270:user/release-keys, Nokia/DrakeLite_02US/DKT:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_190:user/release-keys, Nokia/DrakeLite_02US/DKT:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_130:user/release-keys, Nokia/DrakeLite_02US/DKT:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_110:user/release-keys, Nokia/DrakeLite_02US/DKT:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_080:user/release-keys, and Nokia/DrakeLite_02US/DKT:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_050:user/release-keys). This malicious app sends a broadcast Intent to the receiver component named com.tracfone.tfstatus/.TFStatus. This broadcast receiver extracts a string from the Intent and uses it as an extra when it starts the com.tracfone.tfstatus/.TFStatusActivity activity component which uses the externally controlled string as an input to execute an AT command. There are two different injection techniques to successfully inject arbitrary AT commands to execute.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 6 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing input validation through analysis or test cases.
SI-10 directly requires validity checks on information inputs, structurally preventing improper or missing validation.
Requiring documented development standards and tools can embed input-validation practices into the engineering process.
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.
Secure SDLC practices directly require and enforce input validation during development.
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.
Testing against a defined set of requirements and using code review plus vulnerability scanning forces validation of inputs and handling of unanticipated conditions, reducing the chance that malformed data will be accepted.
Secure-coding guidelines and mandatory security testing (including code scans) compel developers to validate and sanitize inputs at design and implementation time, lowering the incidence of malformed or malicious data reaching downstream components.
Mandating input controls that include integrity checks and input validation ensures that untrusted data is examined before use, blocking the root cause of many injection and malformed-data weaknesses.
Security-by-design principles explicitly call for data validation and sanitization at every layer, reducing the chance that malformed or malicious input will be processed without scrutiny.
Requiring language-specific secure coding standards, peer review, SAST and documented mitigation of common programming errors forces validation of all inputs before they are trusted.
Regular automated validation of system software and data content, combined with scanning of all inbound files, enforces input validation at the boundary before untrusted content is processed.
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 8 (1 rule)
- V-230265 RHEL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-20