CVE-2023-2515 : What You Need to Know

This CVE-2023-2515 was published by Mattermost on May 12, 2023. It involves privilege escalation to system admin via personal access tokens.

Understanding CVE-2023-2515

This vulnerability in Mattermost allows a user with permissions to edit other users and create personal access tokens to elevate their privileges to system admin.

What is CVE-2023-2515?

The vulnerability in Mattermost, tracked as CVE-2023-2515, results in improper restriction of user privileges, enabling unauthorized users to escalate their access to system admin level.

The Impact of CVE-2023-2515

With a CVSS base score of 4.7, this vulnerability has a medium severity impact. The attack complexity is low, and it requires high privileges, potentially leading to unauthorized access and data manipulation.

Technical Details of CVE-2023-2515

This section delves into the vulnerability's description, affected systems and versions, and its exploitation mechanism.

Vulnerability Description

Mattermost fails to restrict a user with permissions to edit other users and create personal access tokens from elevating their privileges to system admin.

Affected Systems and Versions

The vulnerability affects Mattermost versions 7.1.7, 7.7.3, 7.8.2, and 7.9.1. Users with these versions are at risk of privilege escalation.

Exploitation Mechanism

Unauthorized users can exploit this vulnerability by leveraging their permissions to edit other users and generate personal access tokens, granting them system admin privileges.

Mitigation and Prevention

To address CVE-2023-2515, users and administrators can take immediate steps, implement long-term security practices, and apply necessary patches and updates.

Immediate Steps to Take

Update Mattermost Server to versions 7.1.8, 7.7.4, 7.8.3, 7.9.2, or higher to mitigate the vulnerability and prevent privilege escalation.

Long-Term Security Practices

Ensure proper user permission management, regularly review access controls, and conduct security audits to prevent unauthorized access and privilege escalation.

Patching and Updates

Regularly monitor and apply security updates released by Mattermost to ensure the latest patches are in place, safeguarding the system against known vulnerabilities.