CVE-2023-42446 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) CWE-298 vulnerability in pow. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for pow — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Pow Mnesia cache doesn't invalidate all expired keys on startup
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-2023-42446.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2023-42446 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,156 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
powReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Hex packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Use of Pow.Store.Backend.MnesiaCache is susceptible to session hijacking as expired keys are not being invalidated correctly on startup. A cache key may become expired when all Pow.Store.Backend.MnesiaCache instances have been shut down for a period that is longer than the keys' remaining TTL and the expired key won't be invalidated on startups.
Workarounds
The expired keys, including all expired sessions, can be manually invalidated by running:
:mnesia.sync_transaction(fn ->
Enum.each(:mnesia.dirty_select(Pow.Store.Backend.MnesiaCache, [{{Pow.Store.Backend.MnesiaCache, :_, :_}, [], [:"$_"]}]), fn {_, key, {_value, expire}} ->
ttl = expire - :os.system_time(:millisecond)
if ttl < 0, do: :mnesia.delete({Pow.Store.Backend.MnesiaCache, key})
end)
end)
References
https://github.com/pow-auth/pow/commit/15dc525be03c466daa5d2119ca7acdec7b24ed17 https://github.com/pow-auth/pow/issues/713 https://github.com/pow-auth/pow/pull/714
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💧Hex | pow | ≥ 1.0.14&&< 1.0.34 | 1.0.34mix deps.update pow |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for pow, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update pow to 1.0.34 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-42446 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2023-42446 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-42446. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-42446 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-42446 across Hex dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.