CVE-2023-2197 | Vault Enterprise Vulnerable to Padding Oracle Attacks When Using a CBC-based Encryption Mechanism with a HSM

HashiCorp Vault Enterprise 1.13.0 up to 1.13.1 is vulnerable to a padding oracle attack when using an HSM in conjunction with the CKM_AES_CBC_PAD or CKM_AES_CBC encryption mechanisms. An attacker with privileges to modify storage and restart Vault may be able to intercept or modify cipher text in order to derive Vault’s root key. Fixed in 1.13.2

Published: 2023-05-01 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-2197 is rated Low Risk (10.2/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.09%). Mandatory action: Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-2197

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.04% 0.09% +0.04%
2 2023-05-02 0.04%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-2197

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
2.5 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
0.8 1.4 [email protected]
2.5 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.0 1.4 [email protected]
2.5 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.0 1.4 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-2197

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-2197

vendor priority summary link
alpine CVE-2023-2197: 1 source package rows (vault); 2 state rows across 2 repos (3.18-community, edge-community); fixed 2, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-2197
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-2197

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-2197

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
hashicorp vault >= 1.13.0, < 1.13.2 cpe:2.3:a:hashicorp:vault:*:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-2197

cvelogic Threat Intelligence