CVE-2023-22746
CKAN is vulnerable to session secret shared across instances using Docker images
CKAN is an open-source DMS (data management system) for powering data hubs and data portals. When creating a new container based on one of the Docker images listed below, the same secret key was being used by default. If the users didn't set a custom value via environment variables in the .env file, that key was shared across different CKAN instances, making it easy to forge authentication requests. Users overriding the default secret key in their own .env file are not affected by this issue. Note that the legacy images (ckan/ckan) located in the main CKAN repo are not affected by this issue. The affected images are ckan/ckan-docker, (ckan/ckan-base images), okfn/docker-ckan (openknowledge/ckan-base and openknowledge/ckan-dev images)
keitaroinc/docker-ckan (keitaro/ckan images).
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
CKAN is vulnerable to session secret shared across instances using Docker images
CKAN is an open-source DMS (data management system) for powering data hubs and data portals. When creating a new container based on one of the Docker images listed below, the same secret key was being used by default. If the users didn't set a custom value via environment variables in the .env file, that key was shared across different CKAN instances, making it easy to forge authentication requests. Users overriding the default secret key in their own .env file are not affected by this issue. Note that the legacy images (ckan/ckan) located in the main CKAN repo are not affected by this issue. The affected images are ckan/ckan-docker, (ckan/ckan-base images), okfn/docker-ckan (openknowledge/ckan-base and openknowledge/ckan-dev images)
keitaroinc/docker-ckan (keitaro/ckan images).
- Record
CVE-2023-22746- CVSS 3.1
- 8.6 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-344, CWE-330
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-26864
CKAN is an open-source DMS (data management system) for powering data hubs and data portals. When creating a new container based on one of the Docker images listed below, the same secret key was being used by default. If the users didn't set a custom value via environment variables in the .env file, that key was shared across different CKAN instances, making it easy to forge authentication requests. Users overriding the default secret key in their own .env file are not affected by this issue. Note that the legacy images (ckan/ckan) located in the main CKAN repo are not affected by this issue. The affected images are ckan/ckan-docker, (ckan/ckan-base images), okfn/docker-ckan (openknowledge/ckan-base and openknowledge/ckan-dev images)
keitaroinc/docker-ckan (keitaro/ckan images).
- Record
EUVD-2023-26864- CVSS 3.1
- 8.6 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
CKAN is an open-source DMS (data management system) for powering data hubs and data portals. When creating a new container based on one of the Docker images listed below, the same secret key was being used by default. If the users didn't set a custom value via environment variables in the .env file, that key was shared across different CKAN instances, making it easy to forge authentication requests. Users overriding the default secret key in their own .env file are not affected by this issue. Note that the legacy images (ckan/ckan) located in the main CKAN repo are not affected by this issue. The affected images are ckan/ckan-docker, (ckan/ckan-base images), okfn/docker-ckan (openknowledge/ckan-base and openknowledge/ckan-dev images)
keitaroinc/docker-ckan (keitaro/ckan images).
- Record
CVE-2023-22746- CVSS 3.1
- 8.6 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L - 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 - Weakness
- CWE-330, CWE-344
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
CKAN is vulnerable to session secret shared across instances using Docker images
CKAN is an open-source DMS (data management system) for powering data hubs and data portals. When creating a new container based on one of the Docker images listed below, the same secret key was being used by default. If the users didn't set a custom value via environment variables in the .env file, that key was shared across different CKAN instances, making it easy to forge authentication requests. Users overriding the default secret key in their own .env file are not affected by this issue. Note that the legacy images (ckan/ckan) located in the main CKAN repo are not affected by this issue. The affected images are ckan/ckan-docker, (ckan/ckan-base images), okfn/docker-ckan (openknowledge/ckan-base and openknowledge/ckan-dev images)
keitaroinc/docker-ckan (keitaro/ckan images).
- Record
CVE-2023-22746- CVSS 3.1
- 8.6 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-330, CWE-344
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-22746 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.6) in Ckan, published February 3, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.69%, the 53rd percentile. No source names a fixed version.
References
github.com/ckan/ckan/security/advisories/GHSA-pr8j-v4c8-h62x
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-22746