CVE-2023-31139 | DHIS2 Core unrestricted session cookies with Personal Access Tokens

DHIS2 Core contains the service layer and Web API for DHIS2, an information system for data capture. Starting in the 2.37 branch and prior to versions 2.37.9.1, 2.38.3.1, and 2.39.1.2, Personal Access Tokens (PATs) generate unrestricted session cookies. This may lead to a bypass of other access restrictions (for example, based on allowed IP addresses or HTTP methods). DHIS2 implementers should upgrade to a supported version of DHIS2: 2.37.9.1, 2.38.3.1, or 2.39.1.2. Implementers can work around this issue by adding extra access control validations on a reverse proxy.

Published: 2023-05-09 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-31139 is rated Low Risk (33.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.24%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2023-31139

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 2026-05-18 0.30% 0.24% -0.06%
2 2026-05-10 0.06% 0.30% +0.24%
3 2025-11-21 0.06%

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-31139

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N 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: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.
2.8 1.4 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-31139

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-31139

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
dhis2 dhis_2 >= 2.37.0, < 2.37.9.1 cpe:2.3:a:dhis2:dhis_2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
dhis2 dhis_2 >= 2.38.0, < 2.38.3.1 cpe:2.3:a:dhis2:dhis_2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
dhis2 dhis_2 >= 2.39.0, < 2.39.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:dhis2:dhis_2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-31139

cvelogic Threat Intelligence