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TI-2023-12216 Aliases CVE-2023-27488

Envoy gRPC client produces invalid protobuf when an HTTP header with non-UTF8 value is received.

Priority MEDIUM 43CWE-20Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 1 fixed, 1 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

Envoy is an open source edge and service proxy designed for cloud-native applications. Prior to versions 1.26.0, 1.25.3, 1.24.4, 1.23.6, and 1.22.9, escalation of privileges is possible when `failure_mode_allow: true` is configured for `ext_authz` filter. For affected components that are used for logging and/or visibility, requests may not be logged by the receiving service. When Envoy was configured to use ext_authz, ext_proc, tap, ratelimit filters, and grpc access log service and an http header with non-UTF-8 data was received, Envoy would generate an invalid protobuf message and send it to the configured service. The receiving service would typically generate an error when decoding the protobuf message. For ext_authz that was configured with ``failure_mode_allow: true``, the request would have been allowed in this case. For the other services, this could have resulted in other unforeseen errors such as a lack of visibility into requests. As of versions 1.26.0, 1.25.3, 1.24.4, 1.23.6, and 1.22.9, Envoy by default sanitizes the values sent in gRPC service calls to be valid UTF-8, replacing data that is not valid UTF-8 with a `!` character. This behavioral change can be temporarily reverted by setting runtime guard `envoy.reloadable_features.service_sanitize_non_utf8_strings` to false. As a workaround, one may set `failure_mode_allow: false` for `ext_authz`.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00731 54th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Partial envoy (envoyproxy): 1.25.3, 1.24.4, 1.23.6 +1Red Hat: 1 advisoryRed Hat: 1 fixed, 1 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
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

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
envoyproxyenvoy1.25.0 to before 1.25.3; 1.24.0 to before 1.24.4; 1.23.0 to before 1.23.6; before 1.22.91.25.3, 1.24.4, 1.23.6, 1.22.9Patch availableCNA
  • envoy Vendorenvoyproxy Affected 1.25.0 to before 1.25.3; 1.24.0 to before 1.24.4; 1.23.0 to before 1.23.6; before 1.22.9 Fixed in 1.25.3, 1.24.4, 1.23.6, 1.22.9 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*before 1.22.9; 1.23.0 to before 1.23.6; 1.24.0 to before 1.24.4; 1.25.0 to before 1.25.3Vulnerableenvoyproxy
  • cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 1.22.9; 1.23.0 to before 1.23.6; 1.24.0 to before 1.24.4; 1.25.0 to before 1.25.3 Vulnerable ·envoyproxy

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA envoy (envoyproxy) Fixed in 1.25.3, 1.24.4, 1.23.6, 1.22.9

Red Hat 1 advisory

  • RHSA-2023:4623 Released 2023-08-11 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 2.2.9 security update
    • RHOSSM 2.2 for RHEL 8 openshift-service-mesh/proxyv2-rhel8

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
OpenShift Service Mesh 2.1AffectedNo fix planned: Will not fix
RHOSSM 2.2 for RHEL 8Fixed RHSA-2023:4623
Not affected: 1 product
  • RHOSSM 2.2 for RHEL 8

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-27488

References

  • TI-2026-79288 Out-of-bounds write in Google Brotli decoder KEVCVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.2
  • TI-2023-23979 The HTTP/2 protocol allows a denial of service (server resource consumption) because… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2024-20001 HTTP/2: CPU exhaustion due to CONTINUATION frame flood CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2024-18524 HTTP/2: memory exhaustion due to CONTINUATION frame flood CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2023-12215 Envoy client may fake the header `x-envoy-original-path` CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
  • TI-2023-18002 Envoy vulnerable to OAuth2 credentials exploit with permanent validity CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
See all 126 →

Sources