CVE-2023-33185: Django ses Incorrect Signature Verification Vulnerability

LOW
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-qg36-9jxh-fj25
Share
CVSS 4.6
CWE-347
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-33185 is a LOW (CVSS 4.6) incorrect signature verification vulnerability (CWE-347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature) affecting Django ses libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves incorrect signature verification in django-ses. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3.5.0.

CVE-2023-33185 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-33185
GHSA Identifier GHSA-qg36-9jxh-fj25
Severity LOW
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 4.6
CWE Classification CWE-347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature
Affected Product Django ses
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 4.6

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

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality Low (C:L)
Integrity Low (I:L)
Availability Low (A:L)

How to Fix CVE-2023-33185

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

django-ses fixed: 3.5.0 
pip install django-ses>=3.5.0
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 django-ses

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2023-33185, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show django-ses

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Django ses in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 3.5.0), your application is affected.

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

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature, where the product does not verify, or incorrectly verifies, the cryptographic signature for data. In Django ses, 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

The django_ses library implements a mail backend for Django using AWS Simple Email Service. The library exports the `SESEventWebhookView class` intended to receive signed requests from AWS to handle email bounces, subscriptions, etc. These requests are signed by AWS and are verified by django_ses, however the verification of this signature was found to be flawed as it allowed users to specify arbitrary public certificates.

CVE-2023-33185 Affected Django ses Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
3.5.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
django-ses
pypi/django-ses
PyPI
< 3.5.0
3.5.0

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/django-ses/django-ses/security/advisories/GHSA-qg36-9jxh-fj25
NVD — CVE-2023-33185 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-33185
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/django-ses/django-ses/commit/b71b5f413293a13997b6e6314086cb9c22629795
Django ses Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/django-ses/django-ses
Django ses Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/django-ses/django-ses/blob/3d627067935876487f9938310d5e1fbb249a7778/CVE/001-cert-url-signature-verification.md
Django ses Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/django-ses/PYSEC-2023-82.yaml

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-33185?
CVE-2023-33185 is a security vulnerability in Django ses involving Incorrect signature verification in django-ses under CWE-347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature.
Which Django ses versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3.5.0 across affected packages: django-ses.
What version fixes CVE-2023-33185?
Upgrading to 3.5.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is django-ses affected?
Yes, django-ses is affected in releases prior to 3.5.0. Upgrade your dependency to 3.5.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-33185?
CVE-2023-33185 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.6 (LOW) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-33185?
CVE-2023-33185 is classified under CWE-347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature (The product does not verify, or incorrectly verifies, the cryptographic signature for data.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2023-33185?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show django-ses'. 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-qg36-9jxh-fj25",
  "modified" : "2024-11-18T16:26:29Z",
  "published" : "2023-05-22T19:41:56Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-33185" ],
  "summary" : "Incorrect signature verification in django-ses",
  "details" : "The django_ses library implements a mail backend for Django using AWS Simple Email Service. The library exports the `SESEventWebhookView class` intended to receive signed requests from AWS to handle email bounces, subscriptions, etc. These requests are signed by AWS and are verified by django_ses, however the verification of this signature was found to be flawed as it allowed users to specify arbitrary public certificates.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "django-ses"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3.5.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/django-ses/django-ses/security/advisories/GHSA-qg36-9jxh-fj25"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-33185"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/django-ses/django-ses/commit/b71b5f413293a13997b6e6314086cb9c22629795"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/django-ses/django-ses"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/django-ses/django-ses/blob/3d627067935876487f9938310d5e1fbb249a7778/CVE/001-cert-url-signature-verification.md"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/django-ses/PYSEC-2023-82.yaml"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-347" ],
    "severity" : "LOW",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-05-22T19:41:56Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-05-26T21:15:20Z"
  }
}