How severe is CVE-2023-38496?

CVE-2023-38496 has a CVSS score of 6.1/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-38496?

CVE-2023-38496 affects the following packages: github.com/apptainer/apptainer (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2023-38496?

Update github.com/apptainer/apptainer to 1.2.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-38496 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-38496 in my Go dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/apptainer/apptainer, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-38496 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Close the privilege gap rather than the entry point: audit which accounts, roles and service identities can reach the affected operation, drop the component to the least privilege it actually needs, and review file and directory permissions created by earlier installs — a default left in place is what makes this reachable.

Is CVE-2023-38496 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2023-38496 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2023-38496?

CVE-2023-38496 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.3%, placing it in the 18th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2023-38496?

CVE-2023-38496 is classified as Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269), CWE-271 (CWE-271). These weakness types describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2023-38496 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-38496 was published on July 25, 2023 and was last updated on October 28, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐹

🐹 Go

Not in CISA KEV

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2023-38496 — apptainer

MEDIUMFix: apptainer/apptainer#1523

CVE-2023-38496 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in github.com/apptainer/apptainer. A fix is available for github.com/apptainer/apptainer — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Apptainer's ineffective privileges drop when requesting container network

Also known asGHSA-mmx5-32m4-wxvxGO-2023-1965

Published

Jul 25, 2023

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Oct 29, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-38496.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs18th percentile — riskier than 18% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐹github.com/apptainer/apptainer

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Impact

Fix https://github.com/apptainer/apptainer/pull/1523 included in Apptainer 1.2.0-rc.2 has introduced an ineffective privilege drop when requesting container network setup, therefore subsequent functions are called with root privileges. The attack surface is rather limited for users but an attacker could possibly craft a starter config to delete any directory on the host filesystems. Only affects setuid installations of Apptainer.

Patches

The security fix https://github.com/apptainer/apptainer/pull/1578 has been included in Apptainer 1.2.1

Workarounds

There is no known workaround outside of upgrading to Apptainer 1.2.1

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`github.com/apptainer/apptainer`	≥ 1.2.0&&< 1.2.1	1.2.1`go get github.com/apptainer/apptainer@v1.2.1`

Affected Products

1 product · 2 configurations

Application

apptainerlfprojects

1 version

1.2.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/apptainer/apptainer, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/apptainer/apptainer to 1.2.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-38496 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Close the privilege gap rather than the entry point: audit which accounts, roles and service identities can reach the affected operation, drop the component to the least privilege it actually needs, and review file and directory permissions created by earlier installs — a default left in place is what makes this reachable.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact Fix https://github.com/apptainer/apptainer/pull/1523 included in Apptainer 1.2.0-rc.2 has introduced an ineffective privilege drop when requesting container network setup, therefore subsequent functions are called with root privileges. The attack surface is rather limited for users but an attacker could possibly craft a starter config to delete any directory on the host filesystems. Only affects setuid installations of Apptainer. ### Patches The security fix https://github.com/apptainer/apptainer/pull/1578 has been included in Apptainer 1.2.1 ### Workarounds There is no kno