CVE-2023-50738
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:LCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-50738 is a medium-severity Improper Validation of Integrity Check Value (CWE-354) vulnerability in Lexmark (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 4.3 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked at the 18th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SC-13 (Cryptographic Protection) and SC-51 (Hardware-based Protection) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-55494
Vulnerability Data
A new feature to prevent Firmware downgrades was recently added to some Lexmark products. A method to override this downgrade protection has been identified.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
—
—
- 10 hardening rules · 4 OS baselines
V10.4.12
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requires integrity verification tools that detect unauthorized changes when checksum validation is missing or flawed.
Mandates cryptographic mechanisms that include integrity protection, preventing improper checksum validation.
Hardware-enforced write protection directly stops unauthorized mutation of a security version number to older values.
Requires protection of transmitted information integrity, directly mandating correct validation of integrity checks.
Enforcing access restrictions on configuration changes can block unauthorized writes to a mutable security version register.
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.
Mandates pre-acquisition integrity assessment, addressing only the initial portion of the weakness lifecycle.
Requires cryptographic hashes and signatures that directly enforce integrity-check validation for data at rest.
Requires cryptographic hashes and signatures that directly enforce integrity-check validation for data in transit.
Hardened baselines and configuration management can enforce immutable version checks or secure-boot policies that mitigate rollback.
Hardware lacking immutable version-number protection can be identified and replaced as part of risk-based hardware maintenance.
Requires verification of backup integrity, covering validation only within recovery scenarios.
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.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
- V-248574 YUM must be configured to prevent the installation of patches, service packs, device drivers, or OL 8 system components that have not been digitally signed using a certificate that is recognized and approved by the organization. blocks CWE-354
- V-248575 OL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. blocks CWE-354
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
- V-271523 OL 9 must check the GPG signature of locally installed software packages before installation. blocks CWE-354
RHEL 7 (2 rules)
- V-204447 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components from a repository without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. blocks CWE-354
- V-204448 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. blocks CWE-354
RHEL 8 (2 rules)
- V-230264 RHEL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components from a repository without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. blocks CWE-354
- V-230265 RHEL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. blocks CWE-354