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CVE-2023-6038 h2o

Affected softwareh2o
Severity7.5 High CVSS 3.1 2 scores
WeaknessMissing authorization (CWE-862)
Published16 Nov 2023
Updated17 Jun 2026

Description

A Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability exists in the h2o-3 REST API, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to read arbitrary files on the server with the permissions of the user running the h2o-3 instance. This issue affects the default installation and does not require user interaction. The vulnerability can be exploited by making specific GET or POST requests to the ImportFiles and ParseSetup endpoints, respectively. This issue was identified in version 3.40.0.4 of h2o-3.

CWE-29

Exploitation status

Exploited

Real-world exploitation reported by VulnCheck KEV. CISA has not confirmed it.

  • CISA KEV not listed
  • VulnCheck KEV listed Exploitation reported in the wild. Honeypot sightings · earliest 2024-01-22.
  • CISA Vulnrichment exploitation: poc CISA recorded that an exploit has been demonstrated. Automatable: yes, technical impact: partial.
  • Indexed PoC 1 indexed Published artifacts you can open, in Nuclei.
  • EPSS 4.3% chance in 30 days

VulnCheck KEV

Exploitation evidence from VulnCheck Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (VulnCheck KEV), used under VulnCheck's community terms. View CVE-2023-6038 in VulnCheck (free account).

EvidenceSourceDetailDate
Honeypot sighting Shadowserver honeypots Exploitation attempts seen on 401 days 2024-01-22 to 2026-11-04
IndexArtifactStarsFirst seen
Nuclei H2O ImportFiles - Local File Inclusion

Waratek protection

Mitigation candidate

A kind of vulnerability Waratek's rules address, with exploit code published or exploitation reported. No rule exists and none is planned yet. The decision below says what we found to build a rule from.

  • Protection none
  • Action unverified
  • Review automated Inferred
  • Record active
Decided by The affected package being open source on Maven, so the fix can be read
Finding This CVE affects an open-source Java library published on Maven Central (Maven packages: ai.h2o:h2o-core), so it is squarely in ARMR's territory and the source needed to understand the defect is public. That makes it a candidate for an ARMR patch rule. No rule exists and none is scheduled: the diff between the affected and fixed versions has not been read, and a closer look may find no hook point ARMR can act on.

CVSS

7.5 HIGH v3.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 2 metrics

We show the highest score from the newest CVSS version. Scores from different versions can't be compared, and the first score listed is sometimes a 0.0 placeholder.

VersionScoreBandVectorAssignerType
CVSS 3.1 7.5 HIGH CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N NVD Primary published
CVSS 3.0 9.3 CRITICAL CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N security@huntr.dev Secondary

Affected software and releases

Maven packages

Affected and fixed versions, from OSV.dev
PackageIntroducedFixedLast affected
ai.h2o:h2o-core 0 none 3.40.0.4

Products and versions

2 products, 2 version entries
SourceVendorProductSchemeAffected versions
osv ai.h2o h2o-core generic ≤ 3.40.0.4
nvd h2o h2o generic any version

References

URLTags
https://github.com/h2oai/h2o-3 PACKAGE
https://huntr.com/bounties/380fce33-fec5-49d9-a101-12c972125d8c WEB

Timeline

Published2023-11-16By the CVE Program.
VulnCheck KEV: earliest evidence2024-01-22Date of the oldest evidence of exploitation in VulnCheck KEV's record. VulnCheck does not publish the date it listed the CVE.
NVD record modified2026-06-17NVD's own last-modified date for this record.
VulnCheck KEV: latest evidence2026-11-04Date of the newest report, exploit reference or honeypot sighting in VulnCheck KEV's record.