Issue with whitespace in JWT roles in OpenSearch

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

4.7 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

EPSS

• CVE-2023-23612: 0.80% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 56.51 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Advisory title: Issue with whitespace in JWT roles Affected versions: OpenSearch 1.0.0-1.3.7 and 2.0.0-2.4.1 Patched versions: OpenSearch 1.3.8 and 2.5.0 Impact: OpenSearch uses JWTs to store role claims obtained from the Identity Provider (IdP) when the authentication backend is SAML or OpenID Connect. There is an issue in how those claims are processed from the JWTs where the leading and trailing whitespace is trimmed, allowing users to potentially claim roles they are not assigned to if any role matches the whitespace-stripped version of the roles they are a member of. This issue is only present for authenticated users, and it requires either the existence of roles that match, not considering leading/trailing whitespace, or the ability for users to create said matching roles. In addition, the Identity Provider must allow leading and trailing spaces in role names. Patches: OpenSearch versions 1.3.8 and 2.5.0 contain a fix for this issue. For more information: If you have any…

Published by the source

24 Jan 2023, 20:47 UTC

Last modified by the source

16 Jan 2025, 14:07 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 16:34 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-864v-6qj7-62qj

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2023-23612

Advisory: Issue with whitespace in JWT roles in OpenSearch
IDs: CVE-2023-23612, GHSA-864v-6qj7-62qj
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2023-23612 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 16:34 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 4.7)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security 2.5.0, 1.3.8. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security: affected < 1.3.8; >= 2.0.0, < 2.5.0; fixed in 2.5.0, 1.3.8

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-864v-6qj7-62qj (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-864v-6qj7-62qj lists affected ranges: Maven org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security >=0 =2.0.0 <2.5.0)

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