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CVE-2023-28432

From Exploited flaws, HARD’s guide to the flaws being used in attacks · Checked
This article is about a flaw in MinIO. For every flaw being used in attacks, see Exploited flaws.

CVE-2023-28432 is a security flaw in MinIO. Attackers can read information from MinIO that should be private. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added it to its catalog of flaws known to be used in attacks on 21 Apr 2023.[1]

MinIO is business software or equipment. Most families won’t have it, but attackers break into it to get inside companies, and from there to what those companies hold about their customers, patients and staff. MinIO has published a fix or advice.

Description

CISA calls it an information disclosure in MinIO MinIO. In its words: “MinIO contains a vulnerability in a cluster deployment where MinIO returns all environment variables, which allows for information disclosure.”[1]

The CVE record adds: “Minio is a Multi-Cloud Object Storage framework. In a cluster deployment starting with RELEASE.2019-12-17T23-16-33Z and prior to RELEASE.2023-03-20T20-16-18Z, MinIO returns all environment variables, including `MINIO_SECRET_KEY` and `MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD`, resulting in information disclosure. All users of distributed deployment are impacted. All users are advised to upgrade to RELEASE.2023-03-20T20-16-18Z.”[2]

The underlying weakness is information exposure (CWE-200), in MITRE’s list of common software weaknesses.

It scores 7.5 out of 10 on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System, which rates it high, scored by NVD using CVSS 3.1.[2]

Affected versions

NVD’s record doesn’t list version ranges for it; MinIO’s advisory has them[3]. CISA names the product as MinIO MinIO.

Most families won’t have MinIO; it’s for whoever looks after IT at work.

Exploitation

CISA added it to its catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities on 21 Apr 2023, 30 days after it was made public. CISA lists a flaw only when it has reliable evidence of it being exploited, and gave US federal agencies until 12 May 2023 to fix it.[1]

FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System, which estimates how likely a flaw is to be used in attacks in the next 30 days from what it sees across the internet, puts it at 84%. That’s in the top 1% of the flaws it scores.[4]

CISA assesses it as automatable: attackers can run it against many targets at once.

CISA doesn’t say who was attacked, or how.

Fix

MinIO has published a fix or advice.[3] CISA’s required action: “Apply updates per vendor instructions.”[1]

  1. Check whether you use it.MinIO is business software or equipment, so most families won’t have it. If you run a business, or work from home on company equipment, ask whoever looks after your IT.
  2. Send this page to your IT person.Ask them to confirm it’s fixed, or not in use. CISA gave US government agencies until 12 May 2023 to fix it.
  3. If it can’t be fixed, take it offline.CISA’s advice when there’s no fix is to stop using the product, or take it off the internet, until there is one.

You can’t fix someone else’s server, but you can watch for what follows a break-in like this: a breach notice, a password reset you didn’t ask for, or a scam message that knows things it shouldn’t. HARD watches for those for you and your family.

Timeline

DateEvent
The flaw is made public in the National Vulnerability Database, with a severity score of 7.5.[2]
CISA adds it to its catalog of flaws known to be used in attacks.[1]
CISA’s deadline for US government agencies to fix it.[1]
FIRST puts the odds of it being used in attacks in the next 30 days at 84%.[4]

See also

Other MinIO flaws

Other information exposure flaws

  • CVE-2025-68686, Fortinet FortiOS: exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor ·
  • CVE-2026-20133, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager: exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor ·
  • CVE-2025-31125, Vitejs: improper access control ·
  • CVE-2026-20805, Microsoft Windows: information disclosure ·
  • CVE-2021-41277, Metabase: geoJSON API local file inclusion ·

Added the same day

  • CVE-2023-27350, PaperCut MF/NG: improper access control ·
  • CVE-2023-2136, Chrome and other Chromium browsers: chrome skia integer overflow ·

References

  1. ^ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. “MinIO Information Disclosure Vulnerability”. Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, added 21 Apr 2023.
  2. ^ National Institute of Standards and Technology. “CVE-2023-28432 Detail”. National Vulnerability Database, published 22 Mar 2023.
  3. ^ MinIO. Advisories and fixes: github.com.
  4. ^ FIRST. “Exploit Prediction Scoring System”. EPSS 0.840, percentile 99.7, 31 Oct 2026.
  5. CVE Program. “CVE-2023-28432”. The official CVE record.

This article is built from CISA’s catalog (version 2026.10.30), NVD’s record and FIRST’s scores, kept in HARD’s database and checked every morning. The plain English is HARD’s.