CVE-2023-23915
Plain English Summary
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This vulnerability allows an attacker to potentially intercept sensitive information during data transfers because the curl tool may fail to upgrade certain HTTP requests to secure HTTPS when multiple requests are made at the same time. This issue occurs only when using curl versions prior to 7.88.0 and can lead to unprotected data being sent over the internet instead of the intended secure connection.
Technical Description
A cleartext transmission of sensitive information vulnerability exists in curl <v7.88.0 that could cause HSTS functionality to behave incorrectly when multiple URLs are requested in parallel. Using its HSTS support, curl can be instructed to use HTTPS instead of using an insecure clear-text HTTP step even when HTTP is provided in the URL. This HSTS mechanism would however surprisingly fail when multiple transfers are done in parallel as the HSTS cache file gets overwritten by the most recentlycompleted transfer. A later HTTP-only transfer to the earlier host name would then *not* get upgraded properly to HSTS.
CVSS Vector Analysis
Vector String
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:NExploit Resources
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Official References
Quick Information
Published
Feb 23, 2023
almost 3 years ago
Last Modified
Feb 13, 2026
7 days ago
Vendor
haxx
Product
curl
Related Vulnerabilities
This vulnerability allows an attacker to potentially send incorrect data during an HTTP POST request if the same connection handle was previously used for a PUT request, which could lead to unexpected application behavior. It mainly affects applications that reuse connection handles without properly resetting them, making it important for developers to be cautious when switching between different types of requests.
An attacker can exploit a vulnerability in curl to send malicious commands during TELNET communication, potentially allowing them to execute arbitrary code on the system. This can happen if an application using curl accepts user input without properly checking it, making it particularly risky for applications that rely on user-provided data.
An attacker can trick curl into using an insecure HTTP connection instead of the intended secure HTTPS by manipulating the URL with special characters that confuse the software's security checks. This vulnerability occurs when the URL contains IDN characters that are converted to ASCII, allowing the attacker to bypass the HSTS protection that should enforce secure connections.
This vulnerability allows an attacker to manipulate data sent in a POST request by exploiting a flaw in how the curl library handles reused connections, potentially leading to the wrong data being sent or causing the application to crash. It occurs when a connection that was previously used for a PUT request is reused for a POST request without properly resetting the data handling, which could happen in applications that frequently switch between these types of requests.
This vulnerability allows an attacker to trick curl into using an insecure HTTP connection instead of the intended secure HTTPS connection by manipulating the URL with special characters. This can happen when the URL includes international domain names that get converted to ASCII, making it possible for the attacker to bypass security checks designed to enforce HTTPS.