CVE-2023-6837

Multiple WSO2 products have been identified as vulnerable to perform user impersonatoin using JIT provisioning. In order for this vulnerability to have any impact on your deployment, following conditions must be met:

• An IDP configured for federated authentication and JIT provisioning enabled with the "Prompt for username, password and consent" option.
• A service provider that uses the above IDP for federated authentication and has the "Assert identity using mapped local subject identifier" flag enabled.

Attacker should have:

• A fresh valid user account in the federated IDP that has not been used earlier.
• Knowledge of the username of a valid user in the local IDP.

When all preconditions are met, a malicious actor could use JIT provisioning flow to perform user impersonation.

CVE-2023-6837 has a CVSS score of 8.5 (High). 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 (5.20.254, 1.6.179.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

1. What is CVE-2023-6837? CVE-2023-6837 is a high-severity security vulnerability in org.wso2.carbon.identity.framework:org.wso2.carbon.identity.application.authentication.framework (maven), affecting versions < 5.20.254. It is fixed in 5.20.254, 1.6.179.1.
2. How severe is CVE-2023-6837? CVE-2023-6837 has a CVSS score of 8.5 (High). 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.
3. Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-6837?
   • org.wso2.carbon.identity.framework:org.wso2.carbon.identity.application.authentication.framework (maven) (versions < 5.20.254)
   • org.wso2.identity.apps:authentication-portal (maven) (versions < 1.6.179.1)
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2023-6837? Yes. CVE-2023-6837 is fixed in 5.20.254, 1.6.179.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2023-6837 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-6837 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
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2023-6837 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.
7. How do I fix CVE-2023-6837?
   • Upgrade org.wso2.carbon.identity.framework:org.wso2.carbon.identity.application.authentication.framework to 5.20.254 or later
   • Upgrade org.wso2.identity.apps:authentication-portal to 1.6.179.1 or later