CVE-2023-38699: MindsDB MindsDB Can Be Made To Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-8hx6-qv6f-xgcw
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CVSS 9.1
CWE-311
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-38699 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.1) mindsdb can be made to vulnerability (CWE-311: Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data) affecting MindsDB libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves mindsdb can be made to not verify ssl certificates. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 23.7.4.0.

CVE-2023-38699 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-38699
GHSA Identifier GHSA-8hx6-qv6f-xgcw
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.1
CWE Classification CWE-311: Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data
Affected Product MindsDB
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.1

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2023-38699

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected MindsDB dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

MindsDB fixed: 23.7.4.0 
pip install MindsDB>=23.7.4.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show MindsDB

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2023-38699, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show MindsDB

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of MindsDB in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 23.7.4.0), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show MindsDB command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-311: Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data, where the product does not encrypt sensitive or critical information before storage or transmission. In MindsDB, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Summary MindsDB's AI Virtual Database allows developers to connect any AI/ML model to any datasource. Prior to version 23.7.4.0, a call to requests with `verify=False` disables SSL certificate checks. This rule enforces always verifying SSL certificates for methods in the Requests library. In version 23.7.4.0, certificates are validated by default, which is the desired behavior Encryption in general is typically critical to the security of many applications. Using TLS can significantly increase security by guaranteeing the identity of the party you are communicating with. This is accomplished by one or both parties presenting trusted certificates during the connection initialization phase of TLS. It is important to note that modules such as httplib within the Python standard library did not verify certificate chains until it was fixed in 2.7.9 release. ### Details Severity: Critical

CVE-2023-38699 Affected MindsDB Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
23.7.4.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
MindsDB
pypi/MindsDB
PyPI
< 23.7.4.0
23.7.4.0

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/mindsdb/mindsdb/security/advisories/GHSA-8hx6-qv6f-xgcw
NVD — CVE-2023-38699 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-38699
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/mindsdb/mindsdb/commit/083afcf6567cf51aa7d89ea892fd97689919053b
MindsDB Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/mindsdb/mindsdb
MindsDB Release RELEASE
https://github.com/mindsdb/mindsdb/releases/tag/v23.7.4.0
MindsDB Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/mindsdb/PYSEC-2023-140.yaml

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-38699?
CVE-2023-38699 is a security vulnerability in MindsDB involving MindsDB can be made to not verify SSL certificates under CWE-311: Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data.
Which MindsDB versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 23.7.4.0 across affected packages: MindsDB.
What version fixes CVE-2023-38699?
Upgrading to 23.7.4.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is MindsDB affected?
Yes, MindsDB is affected in releases prior to 23.7.4.0. Upgrade your dependency to 23.7.4.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-38699?
CVE-2023-38699 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.1 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-38699?
CVE-2023-38699 is classified under CWE-311: Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data (The product does not encrypt sensitive or critical information before storage or transmission.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2023-38699?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show MindsDB'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-8hx6-qv6f-xgcw",
  "modified" : "2023-08-10T21:56:51Z",
  "published" : "2023-08-01T19:55:14Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-38699" ],
  "summary" : "MindsDB can be made to not verify SSL certificates",
  "details" : "### Summary\nMindsDB's AI Virtual Database allows developers to connect any AI/ML model to any datasource. Prior to version 23.7.4.0, a call to requests with `verify=False` disables SSL certificate checks. This rule enforces always verifying SSL certificates for methods in the Requests library. In version 23.7.4.0, certificates are validated by default, which is the desired behavior\n\nEncryption in general is typically critical to the security of many applications. Using TLS can significantly increase security by guaranteeing the identity of the party you are communicating with. This is accomplished by one or both parties presenting trusted certificates during the connection initialization phase of TLS.\n\nIt is important to note that modules such as httplib within the Python standard library did not verify certificate chains until it was fixed in 2.7.9 release.\n\n### Details\nSeverity: Critical\n",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "MindsDB"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "23.7.4.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/mindsdb/mindsdb/security/advisories/GHSA-8hx6-qv6f-xgcw"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-38699"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/mindsdb/mindsdb/commit/083afcf6567cf51aa7d89ea892fd97689919053b"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/mindsdb/mindsdb"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/mindsdb/mindsdb/releases/tag/v23.7.4.0"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/mindsdb/PYSEC-2023-140.yaml"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-311" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-08-01T19:55:14Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-08-04T18:15:15Z"
  }
}