Security Resilience

CVE-2023-40683

Access Control in Ibm Openpages With Watson 8.3 – 8.3.0.2.7

Published
19 January 2024
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0070 52th percentile
Risk Priority 65 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-40683 is a high-severity Improper Authorization (CWE-285) vulnerability in Ibm Openpages With Watson. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 48% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) and AC-25 (Reference Monitor) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

IBM OpenPages with Watson 8.3 and 9.0 could allow remote attacker to bypass security restrictions, caused by insufficient authorization checks. By authenticating as an OpenPages user and using non-public APIs, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to bypass security and…

more

gain unauthorized administrative access to the application. IBM X-Force ID: 264005.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-38738Same product: Ibm Openpages With Watson
CVE-2023-27555Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-25930Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-29255Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-28793Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-45188Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-27559Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-26022Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-29257Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-27875Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

ibm
openpages with watson
9.0 · 8.3 — 8.3.0.2.7

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Mandates that access-control decisions are made and applied to each request before access occurs.

Requires a tamperproof, always-invoked reference monitor that performs authorization checks.

Directly requires enforcement of approved authorizations for every access request, stopping improper or missing checks.

Limits granted privileges so that even a bypassed check affects fewer resources.

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.

blocks

A.5.1 only requires the existence of an overarching policy and topic-specific policies (including on access control); it does not itself perform or enforce any authorization check, so the CWE-285 weakness can still be exploited.

blocks

Mapping access rights to information classification and business requirements forces correct enforcement of authorization decisions, blocking the incorrect authorization weakness at the policy and implementation stage.

finds

Independent reviewers evaluate whether authorization logic matches policy, thereby reducing the window in which incorrect or missing authorization checks remain in production.

finds

By requiring managers to verify that authorization decisions match policy and to remediate deviations, the control limits the persistence of incorrect or missing authorization checks.

blocks

Requiring authorization processes and privilege assignments to be specified during project initiation prevents downstream components from receiving overly broad or incorrect rights that would allow unauthorized actions.

blocks

A.8.3 directly mandates and configures the authorization mechanisms (identity/group rights, dynamic access rules, isolation, credential enforcement) that stop CWE-285 exploitation; the bounded remainder is non-authorization exposure vectors such as error messages or observable discrepancies.

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.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-285, a class-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-552.

References