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🛡️ CVE-2023-42446 — pow

🟡 CVSS 6.5 — Medium ⚠️ Exploit Public CWE-298 OSV
6.5
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

Pow Mnesia cache doesn't invalidate all expired keys on startup

Use of Pow.Store.Backend.MnesiaCache is susceptible to session hijacking as expired keys are not being invalidated correctly on startup. A cache key may become expired when all Pow.Store.Backend.MnesiaCache instances have been shut down for a period that is longer than the keys' remaining TTL and the expired key won't be invalidated on startups.

Workarounds

The expired keys, including all expired sessions, can be manually invalidated by running:

```elixir

:mnesia.sync_transaction(fn ->

Enum.each(:mnesia.dirty_select(Pow.Store.Backend.MnesiaCache, [{{Pow.Store.Backend.MnesiaCache, :_, :_}, [], [:"$_"]}]), fn {_, key, {_value, expire}} ->

ttl = expire - :os.system_time(:millisecond)

if ttl < 0, do: :mnesia.delete({Pow.Store.Backend.MnesiaCache, key})

end)

end)

```

References

https://github.com/pow-auth/pow/commit/15dc525be03c466daa5d2119ca7acdec7b24ed17

https://github.com/pow-auth/pow/issues/713

https://github.com/pow-auth/pow/pull/714

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity high, availability none.

CVSS metrics in full

The score comes from this vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

  • Attack vector: Network — reachable from anywhere that can route to the service.
  • Attack complexity: Low — the attack works reliably, with no preparation.
  • Privileges required: Low — an ordinary user account is enough.
  • User interaction: None — nobody has to be tricked into anything.
  • Scope: Unchanged — the damage stays inside the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: None.
  • Integrity impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.
  • Availability impact: None.

Weakness class

CVE-2023-42446 is classified as CWE-298: Improper Validation of Certificate Expiration. A certificate expiration is not validated or is incorrectly validated.

Affected software

CVE-2023-42446 is recorded against 1 package.

  • pow

Timeline and source

Published on 19 September 2023 and last revised on 17 June 2026. A public exploit is known to exist, which raises the urgency of patching considerably. Record sourced from OSV.

References

github.com (Web)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Package)

Other advisories for this package

pow has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:

Same weakness in other software

These advisories are the same class of weakness (CWE-298: Improper Validation of Certificate Expiration) in other software:

Details

Severity MEDIUM
CVSS Score 6.5
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
CWE CWE-298
Public Exploit ⚠️ Yes
Source OSV
Published 2023-09-19
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-06-17
Fix URL N/A

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
pow — —

Similar Threats

Exploit Protection

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CVE-2023-42446 carries CVSS 6.5 Medium rating and a public exploit already exists. BotEraser checks your installation against this and other known CVE records, and blocks IPs associated with exploit activity.

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ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.

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