What is CVE-2023-42446?

CVE-2023-42446 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Pow-Auth Pow, classified under Improper Validation of Certificate Expiration. CVSS score: 6.5/10. Published 2023-09-18.

How severe is CVE-2023-42446?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.5 out of 10.

Vulnerability in Pow-Auth Pow

CVE-2023-42446

Pow is a authentication and user management solution for Phoenix and Plug-based apps. Starting in version 1.0.14 and prior to version 1.0.34, use of `Pow.Store.Backend.MnesiaCache` is susceptible to session hijacking as expired keys are not being invalidated correctly on startup. A session may expire when all `Pow.Store.Backend.MnesiaCache` instances have been shut down for a period that is longer than a session's remaining TTL. Version 1.0.34 contains a patch for this issue. As a workaround, expired keys, including all expired sessions, can be manually invalidated.

Published 2023-09-18 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 6.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.005 (45.0th percentile), scored 2026-10-22.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 45th percentile — 45.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.005 · newest: 0.005 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Pow-Auth Pow — versions >= 1.0.14, < 1.0.34
Powauth Pow

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

github.com/pow-auth/pow/security/advisories/GHSA-3cjh-p6pw-jhv9 (Vendor Advisory)
github.com/pow-auth/pow/issues/713 (Exploit, Issue Tracking)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-42446?: CVE-2023-42446 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Pow-Auth Pow, classified under Improper Validation of Certificate Expiration. CVSS score: 6.5/10. Published 2023-09-18.
How severe is CVE-2023-42446?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.5 out of 10.