CVE-2023-26463

strongSwan 5.9.8 and 5.9.9 potentially allows remote code execution because it uses a variable named "public" for two different purposes within the same function. There is initially incorrect access control, later followed by an expired pointer dereference. One attack vector is sending an untrusted client certificate during EAP-TLS. A server is affected only if it loads plugins that implement TLS-based EAP methods (EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS, EAP-PEAP, or EAP-TNC). This is fixed in 5.9.10.

Published: 2023-04-15 Last update: 2025-02-07 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-26463 is rated High Risk (71.7/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 11.54%, 94th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

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-2023-26463

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 2026-06-09 11.81% 11.54% -0.27%
2 2026-05-27 11.54% 11.81% +0.27%
3 2026-05-02 — 11.54% —

Full EPSS history (23 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-26463

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-26463

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-26463

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2023-26463: 1 source package rows (strongswan); 12 state rows across 7 repos (3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 7, open 5. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-26463
debian unimportant CVE-2023-26463 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (strongswan), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-26463
gentoo normal CVE-2023-26463: 1 GLSA(s) (202405-08), 1 atom(s) (net-vpn/strongswan); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2023-26463
suse critical CVE-2023-26463 severity critical: SUSE including 21 source package names (strongswan, strongswan-5.9.10-1.1, …), 145 product×package rows across 34 product lines (SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, SUSE Enterprise Storage 7, … (34 product lines)): Known Not Affected 130, Fixed 15. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-26463/
ubuntu high CVE-2023-26463 high priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (strongswan), 8 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 6, released 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-26463

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-26463

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
strongswan strongswan 5.9.8 cpe:2.3:a:strongswan:strongswan:5.9.8:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
strongswan strongswan 5.9.9 cpe:2.3:a:strongswan:strongswan:5.9.9:-:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-26463

cvelogic Threat Intelligence