CVE-2023-48365
Qlik Sense Enterprise for Windows before August 2023 Patch 2 allows unauthenticated remote code execution, aka QB-21683. Due to improper validation of HTTP headers, a remote attacker is able to elevate their privilege by tunneling HTTP requests, allowing them to execute HTTP requests on the backend server that hosts the repository application. The fixed versions are August 2023 Patch 2, May 2023 Patch 6, February 2023 Patch 10, November 2022 Patch 12, August 2022 Patch 14, May 2022 Patch 16, February 2022 Patch 15, and November 2021 Patch 17. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2023-41265.
do firstApply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Can a WAF block it? Partly. The attack involves improper validation of HTTP headers allowing tunneling of HTTP requests, which can be detected by unusual or malformed header patterns that differ from normal user requests. A custom WAF rule can filter HTTP headers with unusual tunneling or malformed syntax, but attackers can vary the request. No tracked WAF vendor has published a rule for this CVE yet.
What a custom rule would match: HTTP headers with unusual tunneling or malformed syntax
Also consider: patch · custom WAF rule
Based on an AI reading of the CVE description, and no vendor rule found yet. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.
Is CVE-2023-48365 being exploited?
Yes. CVE-2023-48365 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.
How severe is CVE-2023-48365?
CVE-2023-48365 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.6. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2023-48365?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2023-48365. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2023-48365 affect?
CVE-2023-48365 affects qlik:qlik_sense. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
cisa ssvc
- exploitation
- active
- automatable
- no
- technical impact
- total
Assessed by CISA 13 Jan 2025 (SSVC 2.0.3).
timeline
- 15 Nov 2023Published
- 13 Jan 2025Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild) · 424 days (about 1 year) later
- 13 Jan 2025CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active · 1 day later
- 3 Feb 2025CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies) · 20 days later
- 21 Oct 2025CVE record last updated · 261 days (about 9 months) later
- 2 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com · 377 days (about 1 year) later
- Linkcommunity.qlik.com /t5/Official-Support-Articles/Critical-Security-fixes-for-Qlik-Sense-Enterprise-
- Linkcisa.gov /known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-48365
sources
- CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
- NVD: CVSS and CPE data
- CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, due date
- CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
- FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
- Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.