Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-42326

RCE in Netgate Pfsense ≤ 2.7.0

High EPSSRCECommand Injection
Published
14 November 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View 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 0.64 99.2th percentile
Risk Priority 90 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-42326 is a high-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Netgate Pfsense. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 0.8% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

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-2023-42326 is a command injection vulnerability, tracked as CWE-77, that affects Netgate pfSense version 2.7.0. The flaw resides in the interfaces_gif_edit.php and interfaces_gre_edit.php components and permits remote code execution when specially crafted requests are processed.

An attacker with low-privileged network access can send malicious input to the affected endpoints, resulting in arbitrary code execution on the target system. Successful exploitation yields full control over confidentiality, integrity, and availability without requiring user interaction.

Netgate addressed the issue in security advisory pfSense-SA-23_10.webgui.asc, while independent analysis from SonarSource provides additional technical details on the web GUI components involved.

The associated EPSS score has remained consistently high, reaching a peak of 0.8614.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An issue in Netgate pfSense v.2.7.0 allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code via a crafted request to the interfaces_gif_edit.php and interfaces_gre_edit.php components.

CWE(s)
CWE-77

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.008 Network Device CLI Execution
Adversaries may abuse scripting or built-in command line interpreters (CLI) on network devices to execute malicious command and payloads.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-48123Same product: Netgate Pfsense
CVE-2019-16667Same product: Netgate Pfsense
CVE-2023-27253Same product: Netgate Pfsense
CVE-2024-46538Same product: Netgate Pfsense
CVE-2023-42325Same product: Netgate Pfsense
CVE-2023-42327Same product: Netgate Pfsense
CVE-2024-54780Same product: Netgate Pfsense Plus
CVE-2024-54779Same product: Netgate Pfsense Plus
CVE-2024-57273Same product: Netgate Pfsense Plus
CVE-2024-53672Shared CWE-77

Affected Assets

netgate
pfsense
≤ 2.7.0
netgate
pfsense plus
≤ 23.05.1

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)
  • V1.2.3
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V1.2.9

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 directly require input validation and neutralization that prevent command injection.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect anomalous command execution resulting from injection.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying recorded vulnerabilities enables remediation of command-injection flaws 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.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent command injection.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the attack surface but do not prescribe the specific neutralization techniques needed.

A.8.31 Separation of development, test and production environments none match
none

Environment separation limits the blast radius of an exploited command injection but does not prevent the flaw itself.

References