CVE-2023-33189Network attack vector

Authorization bypass via inconsistent route matching

Published May 30, 2023 · Updated Jan 10, 2025

Incorrect authorization in Pomerium allows remote attackers to reach protected upstream routes through specially crafted requests. The authorization service rematches an unnormalized request URL, allowing its policy choice to diverge from the route selected by Envoy; the fix binds evaluation to Envoy's route ID and normalizes query parameters. No authentication or user interaction is required, and resulting access is limited to data and actions exposed by the mistakenly authorized upstream route.

CVSS severity10.0
Critical
EPSS probability0.92%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Incorrect authorization in Pomerium allows remote attackers to reach protected upstream routes through specially crafted requests. The authorization service rematches an unnormalized request URL, allowing its policy choice to diverge from the route selected by Envoy; the fix binds evaluation to Envoy's route ID and normalizes query parameters. No authentication or user interaction is required, and resulting access is limited to data and actions exposed by the mistakenly authorized upstream route.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-33189
Published
May 30, 2023
Updated
Jan 10, 2025
Vendor
Pomerium
Product
Pomerium
Classifications
CWE-288, T1190
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 30, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 10, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 0.17.4
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 0.18.0, < 0.18.1
  3. Affected versionversion=>= 0.19.0, < 0.19.2
  4. Affected versionversion=>= 0.20.0, < 0.20.1
  5. Affected versionversion=>= 0.21.0, < 0.21.4
  6. Affected versionversion=>= 0.22.0, < 0.22.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Pomerium · Pomeriumversion=< 0.17.4; version=>= 0.18.0, < 0.18.1; version=>= 0.19.0, < 0.19.2; version=>= 0.20.0, < 0.20.1; version=>= 0.21.0, < 0.21.4; version=>= 0.22.0, < 0.22.2

Published CVSS scores

10.0GitHubCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-288Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo