CVE-2023-43809

Soft Serve Public Key Authentication Bypass Vulnerability when Keyboard-Interactive SSH Authentication is Enabled

HIGH
7.5
CVSS Score
Published: October 4, 2023 at 08:40 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 06:26 AM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsSoft ServeSoft Serve

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Severity
HIGH7.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 1%
SSVC
PoC

Description

Soft Serve is a self-hostable Git server for the command line. Prior to version 0.6.2, a security vulnerability in Soft Serve could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass public key authentication when keyboard-interactive SSH authentication is active, through the `allow-keyless` setting, and the public key requires additional client-side verification for example using FIDO2 or GPG. This is due to insufficient validation procedures of the public key step during SSH request handshake, granting unauthorized access if the keyboard-interaction mode is utilized. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by presenting manipulated SSH requests using keyboard-interactive authentication mode. This could potentially result in unauthorized access to the Soft Serve. Users should upgrade to the latest Soft Serve version `v0.6.2` to receive the patch for this issue. To workaround this vulnerability without upgrading, users can temporarily disable Keyboard-Interactive SSH Authentication using the `allow-keyless` setting.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 0.6.2
Affected range stops below 0.6.2, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
v < 0.6.2
Affected range stops below 0.6.2, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCPoCAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.5HIGHGitHub_M
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-287

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