Resource allocation without limits in https://github.com/curl/curl
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 12 fixed, 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-770.
Summary
An allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability exists in curl <v7.88.0 based on the "chained" HTTP compression algorithms, meaning that a server response can be compressed multiple times and potentially with differentalgorithms. The number of acceptable "links" in this "decompression chain" wascapped, but the cap was implemented on a per-header basis allowing a maliciousserver to insert a virtually unlimited number of compression steps simply byusing many headers. The use of such a decompression chain could result in a "malloc bomb", making curl end up spending enormous amounts of allocated heap memory, or trying to and returning out of memory errors.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | https://github.com/curl/curl | Fixed in 7.88.0 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- https://github.com/curl/curl Vendor— Affected Fixed in 7.88.0 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 15
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:haxx:curl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.57.0 to before 7.88.0 | Vulnerable | Haxx |
| cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:36:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 36 | Vulnerable | Fedoraproject |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 10.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 11.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
| cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h300s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | not specified by NVD | Vulnerable | NetApp |
| cpe:2.3:h:netapp:h300s:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | not specified by NVD | Running on | NetApp |
| cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h500s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | not specified by NVD | Vulnerable | NetApp |
| cpe:2.3:h:netapp:h500s:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | not specified by NVD | Running on | NetApp |
| cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h700s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | not specified by NVD | Vulnerable | NetApp |
| cpe:2.3:h:netapp:h700s:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | not specified by NVD | Running on | NetApp |
- cpe:2.3:a:haxx:curl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.57.0 to before 7.88.0 Vulnerable ·Haxx
- cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:36:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 36 Vulnerable ·Fedoraproject
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 10.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 11.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
- cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h300s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions not specified by NVD Vulnerable ·NetApp
- cpe:2.3:h:netapp:h300s:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions not specified by NVD Running on ·NetApp
- cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h500s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions not specified by NVD Vulnerable ·NetApp
- cpe:2.3:h:netapp:h500s:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions not specified by NVD Running on ·NetApp
- cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h700s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions not specified by NVD Vulnerable ·NetApp
- cpe:2.3:h:netapp:h700s:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions not specified by NVD Running on ·NetApp
Show 5 more CPE
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h410s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | not specified by NVD | Vulnerable | NetApp |
| cpe:2.3:h:netapp:h410s:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | not specified by NVD | Running on | NetApp |
| cpe:2.3:a:netapp:clustered_data_ontap:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | not specified by NVD | Vulnerable | NetApp |
| cpe:2.3:a:splunk:universal_forwarder:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 8.2.0 to before 8.2.12; 9.0.0 to before 9.0.6 | Vulnerable | Splunk |
| cpe:2.3:a:splunk:universal_forwarder:9.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 9.1.0 | Vulnerable | Splunk |
- cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h410s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions not specified by NVD Vulnerable ·NetApp
- cpe:2.3:h:netapp:h410s:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions not specified by NVD Running on ·NetApp
- cpe:2.3:a:netapp:clustered_data_ontap:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions not specified by NVD Vulnerable ·NetApp
- cpe:2.3:a:splunk:universal_forwarder:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 8.2.0 to before 8.2.12; 9.0.0 to before 9.0.6 Vulnerable ·Splunk
- cpe:2.3:a:splunk:universal_forwarder:9.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 9.1.0 Vulnerable ·Splunk
Remediation
Red Hat 7 advisories
- RHSA-2023:4139 Released 2023-07-18 · Red Hat rating Moderatecurl security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v.9.0) libcurl-devel-7.76.1-14.el9_0.6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS (v.9.0) curl-7.76.1-14.el9_0.6, curl-minimal-7.76.1-14.el9_0.6, libcurl-7.76.1-14.el9_0.6 +1
- RHSA-2023:3460 Released 2023-06-06 · Red Hat rating Moderatecurl security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS AUS (v.8.4) curl-7.61.1-18.el8_4.3, libcurl-7.61.1-18.el8_4.3, libcurl-devel-7.61.1-18.el8_4.3 +1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS E4S (v.8.4) curl-7.61.1-18.el8_4.3, libcurl-7.61.1-18.el8_4.3, libcurl-devel-7.61.1-18.el8_4.3 +1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS TUS (v.8.4) curl-7.61.1-18.el8_4.3, libcurl-7.61.1-18.el8_4.3, libcurl-devel-7.61.1-18.el8_4.3 +1
- RHSA-2023:3354 Released 2023-06-05 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat JBoss Core Services Apache HTTP Server 2.4.51 SP2 security update
- Red Hat JBoss Core Services on RHEL 7 Server jbcs-httpd24-apr-util-1.6.1-101.el7jbcs, jbcs-httpd24-apr-util-devel-1.6.1-101.el7jbcs, jbcs-httpd24-apr-util-ldap-1.6.1-101.el7jbcs +23
- Red Hat JBoss Core Services on RHEL 8 jbcs-httpd24-apr-util-1.6.1-101.el8jbcs, jbcs-httpd24-apr-util-devel-1.6.1-101.el8jbcs, jbcs-httpd24-apr-util-ldap-1.6.1-101.el8jbcs +23
Show 4 more Red Hat advisories
- RHSA-2023:3355 Released 2023-06-05 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat JBoss Core Services Apache HTTP Server 2.4.51 SP2 security update
- JBCS httpd 2.4.51.sp2
- RHSA-2023:1842 Released 2023-04-18 · Red Hat rating Moderatecurl security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS (v.8.6) curl-7.61.1-22.el8_6.6, libcurl-7.61.1-22.el8_6.6, libcurl-devel-7.61.1-22.el8_6.6 +1
- RHSA-2023:1701 Released 2023-04-11 · Red Hat rating Moderatecurl security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) libcurl-devel-7.76.1-19.el9_1.2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) curl-7.76.1-19.el9_1.2, curl-minimal-7.76.1-19.el9_1.2, libcurl-7.76.1-19.el9_1.2 +1
- RHSA-2023:1140 Released 2023-03-07 · Red Hat rating Moderatecurl security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) curl-7.61.1-25.el8_7.3, libcurl-7.61.1-25.el8_7.3, libcurl-devel-7.61.1-25.el8_7.3 +1
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| .NET Core 3.1 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| JBCS httpd 2.4.51.sp2 | Fixed | RHSA-2023:3355 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:1701 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v.9.0) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:4139 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:1140 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:1701 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS AUS (v.8.4) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:3460 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS E4S (v.8.4) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:3460 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS (v.8.6) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:1842 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS EUS (v.9.0) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:4139 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS TUS (v.8.4) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:3460 |
| Red Hat JBoss Core Services on RHEL 7 Server | Fixed | RHSA-2023:3354 |
| Red Hat JBoss Core Services on RHEL 8 | Fixed | RHSA-2023:3354 |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat JBoss Core Services on RHEL 7 Server
- Red Hat JBoss Core Services on RHEL 8
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-23916
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-v8vq-prc2-j6gx
- 2026-10-09 Fix available: RHSA-2023:3355 · Red Hat
- 2026-10-16 Fix available: JBCS httpd 2.4.51.sp2 · Red Hat
References
Sources
- CVE-2023-23916 · CVE Program
- CVE-2023-23916 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-v8vq-prc2-j6gx · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2023-23916 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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