Summary
Apiman vulnerable to permissions bypass due to missing check on API key URL
Workarounds
Only provide Apiman Manager accounts to known users, do not allow anonymous/unknown users to create an Apiman Manager account.
Note that this does not affect the Apiman Gateway.
References
Impact
Due to a missing permissions check, an attacker with an authenticated Apiman Manager account may be able to gain access to API keys they do not have permission for if they correctly guess the URL. The URL includes Organisation ID, Client ID, and Client Version of the targeted non-permitted resource, and each of these can have arbitrary values.
While not trivial to exploit, it could be achieved by brute-forcing or guessing common names.
Access to the non-permitted API Keys could allow use of other users' resources without their permission (depending on the specifics of configuration, such as whether an API key is the only form of security).
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-2023-28640 has a CVSS score of 6.4 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, low 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 (3.1.0.Final); 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.
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Apiman 3.1.0.Final and later resolves this issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2023-28640? CVE-2023-28640 is a medium-severity improper privilege management vulnerability in io.apiman:apiman-manager-api-rest-impl (maven), affecting versions < 3.0.0.Final. It is fixed in 3.1.0.Final. The application assigns, modifies, tracks, or checks privileges incorrectly, allowing a user to gain elevated access.
- How severe is CVE-2023-28640? CVE-2023-28640 has a CVSS score of 6.4 (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 io.apiman:apiman-manager-api-rest-impl are affected by CVE-2023-28640? io.apiman:apiman-manager-api-rest-impl (maven) versions < 3.0.0.Final is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2023-28640? Yes. CVE-2023-28640 is fixed in 3.1.0.Final. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2023-28640 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-28640 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-2023-28640 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-2023-28640? Upgrade
io.apiman:apiman-manager-api-rest-implto 3.1.0.Final or later.