CVE-2023-4568
Published: 13 September 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-4568 is a medium-severity Improper Authentication (CWE-287) vulnerability in Papercut Papercut Ng. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked in the top 1.1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
Deeper analysis
PaperCut NG is affected by an authentication bypass vulnerability that permits unauthenticated XML-RPC commands to execute by default. Versions 22.0.12 and earlier are confirmed vulnerable, while later releases may remain exposed because no vendor patch has been supplied. The flaw is tracked as CWE-287 and carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5 reflecting network-accessible attack vectors without required credentials.
An attacker with network reachability can issue arbitrary XML-RPC requests to the affected server, resulting in limited disclosure or modification of application data. No user interaction or privileges are needed, enabling remote, unauthenticated actors to perform these actions immediately upon exposure.
Public references note the absence of an official vendor patch and point to Tenable research detailing the issue, indicating that mitigation currently depends on network controls or configuration changes rather than a software update. The associated EPSS score reached a peak of 0.8320 on 2025-12-11 before receding to its current value of 0.7447.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-54423
Vulnerability details
PaperCut NG allows for unauthenticated XMLRPC commands to be run by default. Versions 22.0.12 and below are confirmed to be affected, but later versions may also be affected due to lack of a vendor supplied patch.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
Threat-Actor AttributionAI
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
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.
Detects unauthorized successful logons resulting from improper authentication implementations.
Documented procedures ensure personnel are trained on authentication mechanisms, tangibly lowering the risk of improper authentication being exploited.
Security awareness training instructs users on secure authentication practices and avoiding credential compromise.
Training on authentication mechanisms and best practices decreases the occurrence of improper authentication.
Non-repudiation requires strong authentication mechanisms to irrefutably attribute performed actions to specific individuals or processes.
Session content review can reveal authentication bypasses or failures in session establishment.
Review of authentication-related audit records can detect improper authentication mechanisms or bypasses.
Assessments check authentication mechanisms for correct implementation and effectiveness, reducing successful authentication bypass attempts.