CVE-2023-52251
Published: 25 January 2024
Summary
CVE-2023-52251 is a high-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Provectus Ui. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 0.1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
Deeper analysis
CVE-2023-52251 is a command injection vulnerability, tracked under CWE-94, that affects the provectus kafka-ui web application in versions 0.4.0 through 0.7.1. The flaw resides in the q parameter of the /api/clusters/local/topics/{topic}/messages endpoint and permits unauthenticated or low-privileged remote attackers to supply crafted input that results in arbitrary code execution on the underlying host.
An attacker with network access and a low-privileged account can send a malicious request to the affected endpoint, achieving full control over the application process. Successful exploitation yields high impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability, consistent with the CVSS 8.8 vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Public proof-of-concept code and exploit details have been posted to repositories such as GitHub and Packet Storm, and the EPSS score has reached a current value of 0.9401 with a recorded peak of 0.9538. No official vendor advisory or patch information is referenced in the supplied data.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-56924
Vulnerability details
An issue discovered in provectus kafka-ui 0.4.0 through 0.7.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via the q parameter of /api/clusters/local/topics/{topic}/messages.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
CVE-2023-52251 enables unauthenticated remote code execution via a crafted 'q' parameter in the public-facing kafka-ui web API endpoint (/api/clusters/{cluster}/topics/{topic}/messages), due to unsanitized Groovy script evaluation, directly facilitating exploitation of public-facing applications.
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.
Makes persistent code injection into loaded programs impossible when the executable image itself resides on hardware-protected read-only media.
Dynamically generated code can be produced and executed inside the isolated chamber, preventing host compromise from code-injection payloads.
Validates inputs used in dynamic code generation to block injected directives.
Directly prevents execution of attacker-supplied code written into data memory regions.