CVE-2023-5214 | CVE-2023-5214 - Privilege Escalation in Puppet Bolt

In Puppet Bolt versions prior to 3.27.4, a path to escalate privileges was identified.

Published: 2023-10-06 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-5214 is rated Low Risk (36.3/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.37%). 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-2023-5214

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 0.19% 0.37% +0.19%
2 2025-03-30 0.37% 0.19% -0.18%
3 2025-03-29 — 0.37% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-5214

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:A)
Attacker has to be nearby on the network—same office, same link, that vibe—not the whole wide internet.
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: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:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.3 4.7 [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 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-5214

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-5214

GHSA-289m-2964-f8q5 · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: rubygems — Puppet Bolt privilege escalation vulnerability

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-5214

vendor priority summary link
alpine critical CVE-2023-5214: 1 source package rows (bolt); 7 state rows across 6 repos (3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.22-community, 3.23-community, edge-community); fixed 0, open 7. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-5214

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-5214

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
puppet bolt < 3.27.4 cpe:2.3:a:puppet:bolt:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-5214

cvelogic Threat Intelligence