CVE-2023-38496
6.1 · MEDIUMOverview
CVE-2023-38496 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting lfprojects apptainer. It was published on July 25, 2023 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.1 (MEDIUM).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.1, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
Apptainer is an open source container platform. Version 1.2.0-rc.2 introduced an ineffective privilege drop when requesting container network setup, therefore subsequent functions are called with root privileges, the attack surface is rather limited for users but an attacker could possibly craft a starter config to delete any directory on the host filesystems. A security fix has been included in Apptainer 1.2.1. There is no known workaround outside of upgrading to Apptainer 1.2.1.
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from lfprojects. Update apptainer to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
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References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2023-38496?
CVE-2023-38496 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting lfprojects apptainer. It was published on July 25, 2023 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.1 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2023-38496?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.1, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2023-38496?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from lfprojects. Update apptainer to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2023-38496?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2023-38496 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
AI agents map your attack surface to find vulnerabilities like this one.
Automated penetration testing that runs continuously, not just quarterly.
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Browser-based exploitation validates findings with real proof-of-concept.
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