CVE-2023-6918

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Low Low Impact What does this mean?
3.7 CVSS v3 Base Score

Description

A flaw was found in the libssh implements abstract layer for message digest (MD) operations implemented by different supported crypto backends. The return values from these were not properly checked, which could cause low-memory situations failures, NULL dereferences, crashes, or usage of the uninitialized memory as an input for the KDF. In this case, non-matching keys will result in decryption/integrity failures, terminating the connection.

Statement

This vulnerability in the libssh abstract layer for message digest operations is deemed to have a low impact due to several mitigating factors. Primarily, the absence of proper checks on return values from supported crypto backends may lead to low-memory situations, failures, NULL dereferences, crashes, or the utilization of uninitialized memory in the Key Derivation Function (KDF). While these potential consequences could disrupt the system, their likelihood is considered low, contributing to the low impact classification.

The maintainers of libssh, in conjunction with Red Hat, have assigned a CVSS3.1 score of 3.7 to this vulnerability. While the score acknowledges the existence of a vulnerability, the assigned value falls within the lower range of the scale, indicating a relatively modest level of risk.

Moreover, the practical exploitability of this vulnerability is characterized as theoretical and highly unlikely to yield tangible results. The difficulty in successfully exploiting the flaw adds a layer of security, further diminishing the potential impact. While acknowledging the risk of non-matching keys leading to decryption/integrity failures and connection termination, the combination of the low likelihood of exploitation and the relatively lower severity score results in an overall assessment of low impact.

Mitigation

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.

Additional Information

External References

Content from www.cve.org is not included.https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-6918

Content from nvd.nist.gov is not included.https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-6918

Content from www.libssh.org is not included.https://www.libssh.org/2023/12/18/libssh-0-10-6-and-libssh-0-9-8-security-releases/

Content from www.libssh.org is not included.https://www.libssh.org/security/advisories/CVE-2023-6918.txt

Affected Packages and Issued Red Hat Security Errata

Products / Services Components State Errata
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 libssh2 Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 libssh Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 libssh2 Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 libssh Fixed RHSA-2024:3233
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 libssh Fixed RHSA-2024:2504
Unless explicitly stated as not affected, all previous versions of packages in any minor update stream of a product listed here should be assumed vulnerable, although may not have been subject to full analysis.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authorities (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications ).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown Red Hat NVD
CVSS v3 Base Score 3.7 5.3
Attack Vector Network Network
Attack Complexity High Low
Privileges Required None None
User Interaction None None
Scope Unchanged Unchanged
Confidentiality Impact None None
Integrity Impact None None
Availability Impact Low Low

CVSS v3 Vector

Red Hat CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

NVD CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation

The libssh maintainers have assigned a score of 3.7, which is endorsed by Red Hat. The exploitability of this vulnerability is primarily theoretical and highly improbable to produce any tangible results.

The high attack complexity associated with the mentioned vulnerability in libssh arises from its predominantly theoretical exploitability and the low likelihood of yielding practical results. The low impact on Availability (A) suggests that while the flaw could potentially lead to issues such as low-memory situations, failures, or crashes, the overall effect on system availability is not deemed severe. The confidentiality aspect (C) is not explicitly mentioned in the provided statement but would be marked as "N/A" if the vulnerability does not significantly impact data confidentiality. And Integrity is None, indicates that the vulnerability is not expected to significantly compromise or impact the integrity of data.

Acknowledgements

Red Hat would like to thank Jack Weinstein (<mike.code.bb.h@gmail.com>) for reporting this issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Red Hat's CVSS v3 score or Impact different from other vendors?

 For open source software shipped by multiple vendors, the CVSS base scores may vary for each vendor's version depending on the version they ship, how they ship it, the platform, and even how the software is compiled. This makes scoring of vulnerabilities difficult for third-party vulnerability databases such as NVD that only provide a single CVSS base score for each vulnerability. Red Hat scores reflect how a vulnerability affects our products specifically.

For more information, see https://access.redhat.com/solutions/762393.

My product is listed as "Under investigation" or "Affected", when will Red Hat release a fix for this vulnerability?
  • "Under investigation" doesn't necessarily mean that the product is affected by this vulnerability. It only means that our Analysis Team is still working on determining whether the product is affected and how it is affected.
  • "Affected" means that our Analysis Team has determined that this product is affected by this vulnerability and might release a fix to address this in the near future.

What can I do if my product is listed as "Will not fix"?

 A "will not fix" status means that a fix for an affected product version is not planned or not possible due to complexity, which may create additional risk.

Available options depend mostly on the Impact of the vulnerability and the current Life Cycle phase of your product. Overall, you have the following options:
  • Upgrade to a supported product version that includes a fix for this vulnerability (recommended).
  • Apply a mitigation (if one exists).
  • Open a This content is not included.support case to request a prioritization of releasing a fix for this vulnerability.

What can I do if my product is listed as "Fix deferred"?

 A deferred status means that a fix for an affected product version is not guaranteed due to higher-priority development work.

Available options depend mostly on the Impact of the vulnerability and the current Life Cycle phase of your product. Overall, you have the following options:
  • Apply a mitigation (if one exists).
  • Open a This content is not included.support case to request a prioritization of releasing a fix for this vulnerability.
  • Red Hat Engineering focuses on addressing high-priority issues based on their complexity or limited lifecycle support. Therefore, lower-priority issues will not receive immediate fixes.

What is a mitigation?

 A mitigation is an action that can be taken to reduce the impact of a security vulnerability, without deploying any fixes.

I have a Red Hat product but it is not in the above list, is it affected?

 The listed products were found to include one or more of the components that this vulnerability affects. These products underwent a thorough evaluation to determine their affectedness by this vulnerability. Note that layered products (such as container-based offerings) that consume affected components from any of the products listed in this table may be affected and are not represented.

Why is my security scanner reporting my product as vulnerable to this vulnerability even though my product version is fixed or not affected?

 In order to maintain code stability and compatibility, Red Hat usually does not rebase packages to entirely new versions. Instead, we backport fixes and new features to an older version of the package we distribute. This can result in some security scanners that only consider the package version to report the package as vulnerable. To avoid this, we suggest that you use an approved vulnerability scanner from our This content is not included.Red Hat Vulnerability Scanner Certification program.

My product is listed as "Out of Support Scope". What does this mean?

 When a product is listed as "Out of Support Scope", it means a vulnerability with the impact level assigned to this CVE is no longer covered by its current support lifecycle phase. The product has been identified to contain the impacted component, but analysis to determine whether it is affected or not by this vulnerability was not performed. The product should be assumed to be affected. Customers are advised to apply any mitigation options documented on this page, consider removing or disabling the impacted component, or upgrade to a supported version of the product that has an update available.