CVE-2023-47832 in SearchIQ Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 12/09/2024
Missing Authorization vulnerability in searchiq SearchIQ allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects SearchIQ: from n/a through 4.4.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/09/2025
The CVE-2023-47832 vulnerability represents a critical missing authorization flaw within the SearchIQ search solution that enables unauthorized access to protected resources through incorrectly configured access control security levels. This vulnerability exists in SearchIQ versions ranging from an unspecified initial version through 4.4, indicating a widespread impact across multiple releases of the software. The flaw fundamentally undermines the application's ability to properly enforce access restrictions, creating a pathway for malicious actors to bypass intended security controls and gain access to sensitive functionality or data that should be restricted to authorized users only.
This vulnerability maps directly to CWE-285, which specifically addresses issues related to improper authorization within software systems. The technical implementation flaw manifests as an insufficient access control mechanism that fails to properly validate user permissions before granting access to search functionality. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting requests that bypass normal authentication and authorization checks, effectively allowing them to perform actions or access information that should be restricted based on user roles or permissions. The vulnerability essentially creates a backdoor through which unauthorized parties can manipulate the search system's behavior and potentially extract sensitive data or modify system parameters.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it can enable attackers to perform a range of malicious activities including data exfiltration, privilege escalation, and potential system compromise. When an attacker successfully exploits this missing authorization control, they can access search results that contain sensitive information, potentially including user data, system configurations, or business-critical intelligence. The vulnerability's presence in versions through 4.4 suggests that organizations using these releases face ongoing risk, as the flaw represents a fundamental architectural weakness in how the application handles access control rather than a simple configuration issue that could be resolved through administrative intervention.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including updating to the latest version of SearchIQ where the authorization flaw has been patched, conducting comprehensive access control reviews, and implementing additional monitoring for unauthorized access attempts. The remediation process should involve verifying that all access control mechanisms are properly configured and that proper authentication and authorization checks are enforced at every point where sensitive operations occur. Security teams should also consider implementing network-level controls to restrict access to search functionality and establish baseline security configurations that prevent the incorrect access control levels from being deployed in production environments. This vulnerability underscores the critical importance of proper access control implementation and demonstrates how a single missing authorization check can create significant security risks across an entire application ecosystem.