Security Resilience

CVE-2023-46848

Squid-Cache Squid 5.0.3 – 6.4

Published
03 November 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.10 96th percentile
Risk Priority 71 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-2023-46848 is a high-severity Incorrect Conversion between Numeric Types (CWE-681) vulnerability in Squid-Cache Squid. Its CVSS base score is 8.6 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked in the top 4% 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.

Squid is affected by CVE-2023-46848, a denial-of-service vulnerability that arises when the proxy processes ftp:// URLs supplied inside HTTP request messages or constructed from native FTP input. The flaw is tracked under CWE-681 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.6, reflecting network attackability without authentication or user interaction and a scope change that can fully impair availability.

A remote attacker can exploit the issue simply by sending crafted requests containing ftp:// URLs, causing the Squid process to crash or become unresponsive and thereby denying service to legitimate users.

Red Hat has issued multiple security updates (RHSA-2023:6266, RHSA-2023:6268, RHSA-2023:6748) and maintains a Bugzilla entry (2245919) that describe the affected packages and provide patched versions for supported Red Hat products. The associated EPSS probability reached a peak of 0.1042 before declining to its current value of 0.0716.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Squid is vulnerable to Denial of Service, where a remote attacker can perform DoS by sending ftp:// URLs in HTTP Request messages or constructing ftp:// URLs from FTP Native input.

CWE(s)
CWE-681

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.001 Junk Data Command And Control
Adversaries may add junk data to protocols used for command and control to make detection more difficult.
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 →
T1003.002 Security Account Manager Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1006 Direct Volume Access Stealth
Adversaries may directly access a volume to bypass file access controls and file system monitoring.
attack.mitre.org →
T1008 Fallback Channels Command And Control
Adversaries may use fallback or alternate communication channels if the primary channel is compromised or inaccessible in order to maintain reliable command and control and to avoid data transfer thresholds.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-46846Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2023-46847Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2023-5824Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2023-2203Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2023-21736Shared CWE-681
CVE-2026-34610Shared CWE-681
CVE-2024-32481Shared CWE-681
CVE-2026-83872Shared CWE-681
CVE-2023-20006Shared CWE-681
CVE-2024-7747Shared CWE-681

Affected Assets

squid-cache
squid
5.0.3 — 6.4
redhat
enterprise linux
9.0
redhat
enterprise linux eus
9.2
redhat
enterprise linux server aus
9.2
redhat
enterprise linux server tus
9.2

Mitigating Controls

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 code reviews, static analysis, and developer training that catch and prevent numeric type-conversion errors.

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.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
blocks

Secure development lifecycle includes type-safety and conversion checks that reduce numeric truncation risks.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
blocks

A.8.26 requires identifying and specifying security requirements (including resilience against certain attacks like buffer overflows or SQL injection) but does not itself implement any conversion checks, bounds validation, or other mechanisms that would stop exploitation of incorrect numeric type conversions

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

Secure architecture principles promote strong typing and safe conversion practices.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly address correct numeric type conversions and overflow checks.

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

Security testing can detect numeric conversion defects before release.

A.8.8 Management of technical vulnerabilities partial match
removes

References