Security Resilience

CVE-2023-4641

Auth Bypass in Redhat Codeready Linux Builder 8.0 … 9.0

Published
27 December 2023
Modified
03 November 2025
CVSS Score v3.1 4.7
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0026 16th percentile
Risk Priority 36 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-2023-4641 is a medium-severity Incorrect Implementation of Authentication Algorithm (CWE-303) vulnerability in Redhat Codeready Linux Builder. Its CVSS base score is 4.7 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked at the 16th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A flaw was found in shadow-utils. When asking for a new password, shadow-utils asks the password twice. If the password fails on the second attempt, shadow-utils fails in cleaning the buffer used to store the first entry. This may allow…

more

an attacker with enough access to retrieve the password from the memory.

CWE(s)

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.
T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
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.
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
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.
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-4042Same product: Redhat Codeready Linux Builder
CVE-2026-8922Same vendor: Redhat
CVE-2023-25957Shared CWE-287, CWE-303
CVE-2024-5658Shared CWE-287, CWE-303
CVE-2023-29129Shared CWE-287, CWE-303
CVE-2024-41829Shared CWE-287, CWE-303
CVE-2026-35579Shared CWE-287, CWE-303
CVE-2020-8863Shared CWE-287, CWE-303
CVE-2026-46389Shared CWE-287, CWE-303
CVE-2024-7593Shared CWE-287, CWE-303

Affected Assets

shadow-maint
shadow-utils
≤ 4.14.0
redhat
codeready linux builder
8.0, 9.0
redhat
codeready linux builder for arm64
8.0_aarch64, 9.0_aarch64
redhat
codeready linux builder for ibm z systems
8.0_s390x, 9.0_s390x
redhat
codeready linux builder for power little endian
8.0_ppc64le, 9.0_ppc64le
redhat
enterprise linux
8.0, 9.0
redhat
enterprise linux for arm 64
8.0, 9.0
redhat
enterprise linux for ibm z systems
8.0_s390x, 9.0_s390x
redhat
enterprise linux for power little endian
8.0_ppc64le, 9.0_ppc64le

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.

addresses: CWE-287

Detects unauthorized successful logons resulting from improper authentication implementations.

addresses: CWE-287

Documented procedures ensure personnel are trained on authentication mechanisms, tangibly lowering the risk of improper authentication being exploited.

addresses: CWE-287

Security awareness training instructs users on secure authentication practices and avoiding credential compromise.

addresses: CWE-287

Training on authentication mechanisms and best practices decreases the occurrence of improper authentication.

addresses: CWE-287

Non-repudiation requires strong authentication mechanisms to irrefutably attribute performed actions to specific individuals or processes.

addresses: CWE-287

Session content review can reveal authentication bypasses or failures in session establishment.

addresses: CWE-287

Review of authentication-related audit records can detect improper authentication mechanisms or bypasses.

addresses: CWE-287

Assessments check authentication mechanisms for correct implementation and effectiveness, reducing successful authentication bypass attempts.

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 directly require correct implementation of authentication algorithms.

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

Mandating segregated approval and oversight for non-human identities reduces the chance that weak or orphaned credentials can be exploited for unauthorized authentication.

blocks

A.5.17 directly mandates generation of non-guessable unique secrets, secure transmission, immediate change of defaults/temporary creds, strong password enforcement, no-reuse, and compromise response, which stops most improper-authentication exploits at source; the bounded remainder is non-password authentication methods and sufficiency-of-proof cases (e.g. IA-2/IA-5 enhancements) left to other controls.

degrades

Cryptography control addresses proper use of authentication algorithms but is broader than authentication alone.

blocks

A.8.25 mandates security requirements, secure coding, checkpoints, testing and developer capability in the SDLC which reaches incorrect algorithm implementation for auth (via secure coding, testing and vuln prevention/fixing), but this is only a minority slice of the weakness class as most instances arise from flawed design/requirements rather than implementation errors caught in dev.

blocks

Application security requirements can specify correct authentication algorithm use but do not guarantee correct implementation.

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-287, a class-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-295, CWE-306.

References