VulnerabilityPublished 3 Nov 2023Updated 20 Nov 2025

CVE-2023-46848: squid · Incorrect Conversion Between Numeric Types

Affects squidSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · 10% EPSS · CVSS 8.6 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 09:15 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

8.6High

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

EPSS: 10.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 95% 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:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
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: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
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 3 Nov 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 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
GitHubsquid-cache/squid`pkg:github/squid-cache/squid`Other threats	Affected =5.0.3	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

1. Monitor official Squid project channels and vendor advisories for patches addressing CVE-2023-46848 and apply updates promptly once available. 2. Until patches are released, consider implementing network-level filtering to block or restrict ftp:// URL traffic to Squid servers, especially from untrusted sources. 3. Review and tighten access controls to limit exposure of Squid proxy servers to the internet or untrusted networks. 4. Employ intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS) with signatures or heuristics to detect and block malformed ftp:// URL requests targeting this vulnerability. 5. Conduct internal audits to identify all Squid 5.0.3 instances and assess their exposure and criticality. 6. Implement rate limiting or connection throttling on Squid servers to mitigate the impact of potential DoS attempts. 7. Prepare incident response plans to quickly isolate and remediate affected systems in case of exploitation. 8. Consider temporary disabling or restricting FTP proxying features if not essential to reduce attack surface.

Description

Squid is vulnerable to Denial of Service, where a remote attacker can perform DoS by sending ftp:// URLs in HTTP Request messages or constructing ftp:// URLs from FTP Native input.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2023-46848 is the potential for Denial of Service attacks against Squid proxy servers running version 5.0.3. This can disrupt internet access, internal application connectivity, and caching services, leading to operational downtime and productivity loss. Organizations in sectors such as finance, government, telecommunications, and critical infrastructure that rely heavily on Squid for traffic management and security may experience significant service interruptions. The disruption could also affect compliance with regulatory requirements for service availability and incident response. Since the vulnerability does not compromise data confidentiality or integrity, the risk of data breach is low; however, the availability impact alone can cause cascading effects on business continuity. The lack of authentication or user interaction requirements increases the risk of automated exploitation attempts. European entities with large-scale deployments of Squid proxies, especially those exposed to the internet or handling FTP traffic, are at heightened risk.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 20 Nov 2025, 07:32 UTC

Technical details

References

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