VulnerabilityPublished 4 Dec 2023Updated 29 May 2025

CVE-2023-40459: SierraWireless ALEOS · NULL Pointer Dereference

Affects SierraWireless ALEOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 2.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 83% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 Dec 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
SierraWireless ALEOS	Affected =4.10 =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Organizations should implement network segmentation and restrict access to ACEManager interfaces to trusted management networks only, minimizing exposure to untrusted sources. Employing firewall rules to limit incoming connections to known IP addresses can reduce attack surface. Monitoring network traffic for unusual authentication attempts or ACEManager service disruptions can provide early detection of exploitation attempts. Although no official patches are currently linked, organizations should stay alert for firmware updates from Sierra Wireless addressing this vulnerability and apply them promptly. In the interim, consider disabling remote ACEManager access if feasible, or use VPN tunnels to secure management traffic. Regularly backing up device configurations can facilitate rapid recovery if devices require rebooting due to ACEManager crashes. Finally, incorporating this vulnerability into vulnerability management and incident response plans will ensure preparedness.

Description

The ACEManager component of ALEOS 4.16 and earlier does not adequately perform input sanitization during authentication, which could potentially result in a Denial of Service (DoS) condition for ACEManager without impairing other router functions. ACEManager recovers from the DoS condition by restarting within ten seconds of becoming unavailable.

Impact

For European organizations relying on Sierra Wireless ALEOS-based routers, particularly those using ACEManager for device management, this vulnerability poses a risk of temporary loss of management access. Although the core routing functions remain unaffected, the inability to access ACEManager can hinder remote monitoring, configuration, and troubleshooting activities, potentially delaying incident response or routine maintenance. In critical infrastructure sectors or industries with stringent uptime requirements, even brief management interface outages can impact operational efficiency and security posture. Additionally, repeated exploitation attempts could lead to persistent management disruptions. Since the vulnerability does not affect data confidentiality or integrity, the primary concern is operational availability of the management interface. Organizations with large deployments of ALEOS devices may face increased risk of management overhead and potential exploitation attempts, especially if devices are exposed to untrusted networks.

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumCWE Top 25 (2025): #13OWASP Top 10 A10:2025: Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions (opens in a new tab)
The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.
Implementation
For any pointers that could have been modified or provided from a function that can return NULL, check the pointer for NULL before use. When working with a multithreaded or otherwise asynchronous environment, ensure that proper locking APIs are used to lock before the check, and unlock when it has finished.
Requirements
Select a programming language that is not susceptible to these issues.
Implementation
Check the results of all functions that return a value and verify that the value is non-null before acting upon it.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V11.1.7 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

source.sierrawireless.com/resources/security-bulletins/sierra-wireless-technical-bulletin---swi-psa-2023-006/ (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 8 Jul 2025, 03:11 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-476

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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