CVE-2023-40579 | OpenFGA Authorization Bypass

OpenFGA is an authorization/permission engine built for developers and inspired by Google Zanzibar. Some end users of OpenFGA v1.3.0 or earlier are vulnerable to authorization bypass when calling the ListObjects API. The vulnerability affects customers using `ListObjects` with specific models. The affected models contain expressions of type `rel1 from type1`. This issue has been patched in version 1.3.1.

Published: 2023-08-25 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-40579 is rated Low Risk (33/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.07%). 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-2023-40579

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 2025-11-21 0.18% 0.07% -0.12%
2 2025-11-18 0.07% 0.18% +0.12%
3 2025-04-15 0.07%

Full EPSS history (8 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-40579

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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: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: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.
2.8 3.6 [email protected]
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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: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: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.
2.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-40579

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-40579

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-40579

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
openfga openfga < 1.3.1 cpe:2.3:a:openfga:openfga:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-40579

cvelogic Threat Intelligence