CVE-2023-28841 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

This CVE record involves the encrypted overlay network traffic of moby/moby's dockerd daemon being potentially unencrypted, leading to a high-severity vulnerability with a CVSS base score of 6.8.

Understanding CVE-2023-28841

This section provides an in-depth look into the nature of the vulnerability, its impact, technical details, affected systems and versions, as well as mitigation strategies.

What is CVE-2023-28841?

The vulnerability arises from the encrypted overlay network feature of the

moby/moby

container framework, specifically affecting the

dockerd

daemon component. Encrypted overlay networks on affected platforms may inadvertently transmit unencrypted data, compromising confidentiality and data integrity.

The Impact of CVE-2023-28841

Exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker positioned in a trusted network location to intercept and read sensitive application traffic traversing the overlay network. This could lead to unauthorized access to confidential information and potential data leakage.

Technical Details of CVE-2023-28841

This section dives deeper into the vulnerability description, affected systems and versions, as well as the exploitation mechanism utilized by the threat actors.

Vulnerability Description

The issue stems from encrypted overlay networks in the

moby/moby

framework, where unencrypted data may be transmitted despite the network appearing to function normally. This exposes sensitive information to potential interception by malicious actors.

Affected Systems and Versions

The vulnerability impacts versions of

moby/moby

ranging from

>= 1.12.0

to

< 20.10.24

and

>= 23.0.0

to

< 23.0.3

. Users running these versions are at risk of data exposure through unencrypted overlay network traffic.

Exploitation Mechanism

Attackers with access to a trusted position on the network can exploit the vulnerability to intercept and view unencrypted data passing through the overlay network. This can lead to the disclosure of confidential data and compromise the security of sensitive information.

Mitigation and Prevention

This section outlines immediate steps to take to address the CVE-2023-28841 vulnerability, as well as long-term security practices for preventing similar incidents in the future.

Immediate Steps to Take

Users are advised to update their

moby/moby

installations to patched versions, specifically releases

20.10.24

and

23.0.3

. Additionally, employing workarounds like closing the VXLAN port and ensuring the

xt_u32

kernel module is available can help mitigate the risk of data exposure.

Long-Term Security Practices

To enhance overall security posture, organizations should regularly update their container frameworks and related components to the latest secure versions. Implementing network segmentation and encryption protocols can also help safeguard against unauthorized data access.

Patching and Updates

Patches addressing CVE-2023-28841 are available in releases

20.10.24

and

23.0.3

of the

moby/moby

framework. Users are strongly encouraged to apply these patches promptly to mitigate the risk of data leakage and uphold the confidentiality of their network traffic.