Summary
Issue with whitespace in JWT roles in OpenSearch
Advisory title: Issue with whitespace in JWT roles
Affected versions:
OpenSearch 1.0.0-1.3.7 and 2.0.0-2.4.1
Patched versions:
OpenSearch 1.3.8 and 2.5.0
For more information:
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please contact AWS/Amazon Security via our issue reporting page (https://aws.amazon.com/security/vulnerability-reporting/) or directly via email to [email protected]. Please do not create a public GitHub issue.
Impact
OpenSearch uses JWTs to store role claims obtained from the Identity Provider (IdP) when the authentication backend is SAML or OpenID Connect. There is an issue in how those claims are processed from the JWTs where the leading and trailing whitespace is trimmed, allowing users to potentially claim roles they are not assigned to if any role matches the whitespace-stripped version of the roles they are a member of.
This issue is only present for authenticated users, and it requires either the existence of roles that match, not considering leading/trailing whitespace, or the ability for users to create said matching roles. In addition, the Identity Provider must allow leading and trailing spaces in role names.
The application assigns, modifies, tracks, or checks privileges incorrectly, allowing a user to gain elevated access. Typical impact: privilege escalation beyond the intended level.
CVE-2023-23612 has a CVSS score of 4.7 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, high privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (1.3.8, 2.5.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
Already deployed Kodem?
See it in your environmentNew to Kodem? Get a demo →Remediation advice
OpenSearch versions 1.3.8 and 2.5.0 contain a fix for this issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2023-23612? CVE-2023-23612 is a medium-severity improper privilege management vulnerability in org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security (maven), affecting versions < 1.3.8. It is fixed in 1.3.8, 2.5.0. The application assigns, modifies, tracks, or checks privileges incorrectly, allowing a user to gain elevated access.
- How severe is CVE-2023-23612? CVE-2023-23612 has a CVSS score of 4.7 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security are affected by CVE-2023-23612? org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security (maven) versions < 1.3.8 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2023-23612? Yes. CVE-2023-23612 is fixed in 1.3.8, 2.5.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2023-23612 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-23612 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2023-23612 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2023-23612?
- Upgrade
org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-securityto 1.3.8 or later - Upgrade
org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-securityto 2.5.0 or later
- Upgrade