Security Resilience

CVE-2023-46321

Iterm2 ≤ 3.4.21

Published
23 October 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0066 50th percentile
Risk Priority 72 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-2023-46321 is a critical-severity Improper Output Neutralization for Logs (CWE-117) vulnerability in Iterm2 Iterm2. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked in the top 50% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A09:2025 Security Logging and Alerting Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

iTermSessionLauncher.m in iTerm2 before 3.5.0beta12 does not sanitize paths in x-man-page URLs. They may have shell metacharacters for a /usr/bin/man command line.

CWE(s)
NVD-CWE-noinfoCWE-117

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1001.002 Steganography Command And Control
Adversaries may use steganographic techniques to hide command and control traffic to make detection efforts more difficult.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS).
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-46322Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2025-22275Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2024-38396Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2024-38395Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2026-41253Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2023-46301Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2023-46300Same product: Iterm2 Iterm2
CVE-2026-5078Shared CWE-117
CVE-2026-74885Shared CWE-117
CVE-2025-23405Shared CWE-117

Affected Assets

iterm2
iterm2
3.5.0 · ≤ 3.4.21

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.

AU-1 Policy and Procedures
addresses: CWE-117

Policy and procedures require sanitization and neutralization when generating audit logs to avoid injection issues.

SI-15 Information Output Filtering
addresses: CWE-117

Requiring output to conform to expected content prevents unneutralized data from reaching logs.

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 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices and coding standards directly require output sanitization for logs.

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.8.15 Logging partial match
removes

A.8.15 records, protects, and analyzes logs but never mandates or performs output neutralization/escaping of external data written into log messages, so the first-party code defect named by CWE-117 remains present after the control is implemented

A.8.16 Monitoring activities partial match
finds

Monitoring activities rely on trustworthy logs but do not ensure log message integrity.

A.8.19 Installation of software on operational systems partial match
removes
A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC includes coding standards that reduce log-related weaknesses but does not specifically address logging.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
removes
A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
removes

References