Summary
OpenNMS privilege escalation vulnerability
In OpenNMS Horizon 31.0.8 and versions earlier than 32.0.2 and related Meridian versions, any user that has the ROLE_FILESYSTEM_EDITOR can easily escalate their privileges to ROLE_ADMIN or any other role. The solution is to upgrade to Meridian 2023.1.5 or Horizon 32.0.2 or newer. Meridian and Horizon installation instructions state that they are intended for installation within an organization's private networks and should not be directly accessible from the Internet. OpenNMS thanks Erik Wynter for reporting this issue.
Impact
The application does not correctly enforce access controls, allowing a principal to access resources or operations beyond their granted permissions. Typical impact: unauthorized data access or execution of privileged operations.
CVE-2023-40315 has a CVSS score of 5.3 (Medium). The vector is reachable from an adjacent network, 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 (32.0.2); 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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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2023-40315? CVE-2023-40315 is a medium-severity incorrect authorization vulnerability in org.opennms:opennms-webapp-rest (maven), affecting versions >= 31.0.8, < 32.0.2. It is fixed in 32.0.2. The application does not correctly enforce access controls, allowing a principal to access resources or operations beyond their granted permissions.
- How severe is CVE-2023-40315? CVE-2023-40315 has a CVSS score of 5.3 (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.opennms:opennms-webapp-rest are affected by CVE-2023-40315? org.opennms:opennms-webapp-rest (maven) versions >= 31.0.8, < 32.0.2 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2023-40315? Yes. CVE-2023-40315 is fixed in 32.0.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2023-40315 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-40315 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-2023-40315 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-2023-40315? Upgrade
org.opennms:opennms-webapp-restto 32.0.2 or later.