CVE-2023-6538
Published: 11 December 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-6538 is a high-severity Improper Authorization (CWE-285) vulnerability in Hitachi System Management Unit Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.6 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 9.8% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
SMU versions prior to 14.8.7825.01, the System Management Unit component used to manage Hitachi Vantara NAS products, contain an information disclosure vulnerability that can be triggered through URL manipulation. The flaw is tracked under CWE-285 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.6, reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, and low-privileged authenticated access that results in high confidentiality impact with limited integrity and availability effects.
Authenticated users assigned Storage, Server, or combined Server+Storage administrative roles can exploit the issue to retrieve SMU configuration backup data that should be inaccessible to those roles, thereby exposing sensitive configuration details without requiring additional privileges or user interaction.
The referenced Hitachi Vantara security advisory states that the exposure is resolved in SMU 14.8.7825.01 and later releases, directing administrators to apply the updated version to prevent unprivileged access to the backup data.
EPSS remains flat at a low value of 0.0530 with no material increase after disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-58769
Vulnerability details
SMU versions prior to 14.8.7825.01 are susceptible to unintended information disclosure, through URL manipulation. Authenticated users in Storage, Server or combined Server+Storage administrative roles are able to access SMU configuration backup, that would normally be barred to those specific administrative…
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roles.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
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.
Documented procedures facilitate correct implementation and ongoing management of authorization decisions.
Periodic reviews identify and correct flaws in authorization decisions or enforcement.
The control's documentation requirement reduces improper authorization by ensuring only mission-justified actions bypass authentication.
Establishing permitted attributes and values, plus auditing changes, ensures authorization decisions are based on correctly managed policy data.
Explicitly mandates authorizing remote access types before permitting connections, directly mitigating improper authorization.
The control explicitly requires authorization of each wireless access type prior to permitting connections.
Mandating explicit authorization of mobile device connections reduces the risk of improper authorization decisions for system access.
Specifying access authorizations for each account and requiring approvals for account requests enforces proper authorization decisions.