CVE-2023-40660 | Opensc: potential pin bypass when card tracks its own login state

A flaw was found in OpenSC packages that allow a potential PIN bypass. When a token/card is authenticated by one process, it can perform cryptographic operations in other processes when an empty zero-length pin is passed. This issue poses a security risk, particularly for OS logon/screen unlock and for small, permanently connected tokens to computers. Additionally, the token can internally track login status. This flaw allows an attacker to gain unauthorized access, carry out malicious actions, or compromise the system without the user's awareness.

Published: 2023-11-06 Last update: 2025-11-03 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-40660 is rated Moderate Risk (46.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.92%). Review affected assets and schedule 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-2023-40660

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 0.03% 0.92% +0.89%
2 2025-11-21 0.20% 0.03% -0.17%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.20% —

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-40660

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.6 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:P)
Hands-on access—USB, keyboard, opening the case—not something you do purely over the wire.
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:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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.
 0.7 5.9 [email protected]
6.6 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:P)
Hands-on access—USB, keyboard, opening the case—not something you do purely over the wire.
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:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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.
 0.7 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-40660

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-40660

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2023-40660: 1 source package rows (opensc); 6 state rows across 6 repos (3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 5, open 1. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-40660
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-40660 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (opensc), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-40660
gentoo normal CVE-2023-40660: 1 GLSA(s) (202412-15), 1 atom(s) (dev-libs/opensc); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2023-40660
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-40660
suse high — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-40660/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-40660 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (opensc), 12 status rows across 12 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 6, ignored 3, released 3. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-40660

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-40660

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
opensc_project opensc <= 0.23.0 cpe:2.3:a:opensc_project:opensc:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-40660

URL Tags
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7876
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7879
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-40660 Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2240912 Issue Tracking
https://github.com/OpenSC/OpenSC/issues/2792#issuecomment-1674806651 Issue Tracking
https://github.com/OpenSC/OpenSC/releases/tag/0.24.0-rc1 Release Notes
https://github.com/OpenSC/OpenSC/wiki/OpenSC-security-advisories Vendor Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/12/13/2
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/11/msg00024.html
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/12/msg00026.html
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/3CPQOMCDWFRBMEFR5VK4N5MMXXU42ODE/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/GLYEFIBBA37TK3UNMZN5NOJ7IWCIXLQP/
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