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TI-2023-24771 Aliases CVE-2023-46129GHSA-mr45-rx8q-wcm9

xkeys Seal encryption used fixed key for all encryption

Priority LOW 39CWE-321Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Security bypass
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · None · None
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 1 fixed, 5 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-321.

Summary

NATS.io is a high performance open source pub-sub distributed communication technology, built for the cloud, on-premise, IoT, and edge computing. The cryptographic key handling library, nkeys, recently gained support for encryption, not just for signing/authentication. This is used in nats-server 2.10 (Sep 2023) and newer for authentication callouts. In nkeys versions 0.4.0 through 0.4.5, corresponding with NATS server versions 2.10.0 through 2.10.3, the nkeys library's `xkeys` encryption handling logic mistakenly passed an array by value into an internal function, where the function mutated that buffer to populate the encryption key to use. As a result, all encryption was actually to an all-zeros key. This affects encryption only, not signing. FIXME: FILL IN IMPACT ON NATS-SERVER AUTH CALLOUT SECURITY. nkeys Go library 0.4.6, corresponding with NATS Server 2.10.4, has a patch for this issue. No known workarounds are available. For any application handling auth callouts in Go, if using the nkeys library, update the dependency, recompile and deploy that in lockstep.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00446 38th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial nkeys (nats-io): 2.10.4, 0.4.6github.com/nats-io/nkeys (Go): 0.4.6+1 more productRed Hat: 1 advisoryRed Hat: 1 fixed, 5 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
Yes
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
backstagenkeys2.10.0 to before 2.10.4; 0.4.0 to before 0.4.62.10.4, 0.4.6Patch availableCNA
—github.com/nats-io/nkeys (Go)0.4.0 to before 0.4.60.4.6Patch availableGHSA-mr45-rx8q-wcm9
—github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2 (Go)2.10.0 to before 2.10.42.10.4Patch availableGHSA-mr45-rx8q-wcm9
  • nkeys Vendorbackstage Affected 2.10.0 to before 2.10.4; 0.4.0 to before 0.4.6 Fixed in 2.10.4, 0.4.6 Patch available CNA
  • github.com/nats-io/nkeys (Go) Vendor— Affected 0.4.0 to before 0.4.6 Fixed in 0.4.6 Patch available GHSA-mr45-rx8q-wcm9
  • github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2 (Go) Vendor— Affected 2.10.0 to before 2.10.4 Fixed in 2.10.4 Patch available GHSA-mr45-rx8q-wcm9

CPE configurations NVD · 2

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:linuxfoundation:nats-server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*2.10.0 to before 2.10.4Vulnerablebackstage
cpe:2.3:a:nats:nkeys:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*0.4.0 to before 0.4.6VulnerableNats
  • cpe:2.3:a:linuxfoundation:nats-server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.10.0 to before 2.10.4 Vulnerable ·backstage
  • cpe:2.3:a:nats:nkeys:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 0.4.0 to before 0.4.6 Vulnerable ·Nats

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA nkeys (nats-io) Fixed in 2.10.4, 0.4.6
  • Fix · GHSA-mr45-rx8q-wcm9 github.com/nats-io/nkeys (Go) Fixed in 0.4.6 Advisory →
  • Fix · GHSA-mr45-rx8q-wcm9 github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2 (Go) Fixed in 2.10.4 Advisory →

Red Hat 1 advisory

  • RHSA-2023:7663 Released 2023-12-06 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.0.0 operator/operand containers
    • Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.0 rhosdt/jaeger-agent-rhel8, rhosdt/jaeger-all-in-one-rhel8, rhosdt/jaeger-collector-rhel8 +8

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

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

ProductStatusPlan or fix
OpenShift ServerlessAffectedNo fix planned: Will not fix
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4AffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 2AffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat Openshift Container Storage 4AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Openshift Data Foundation 4AffectedNo fix planned: Will not fix
Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.0Fixed RHSA-2023:7663
Not affected: 7 products
  • OpenShift API for Data Protection
  • Red Hat Ceph Storage 5
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
  • Red Hat OpenShift GitOps
  • Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3.0
  • Red Hat Openshift Data Foundation 4
  • Red Hat Quay 3

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-46129
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-mr45-rx8q-wcm9

References

Advisory 3

Other 6

  • TI-2026-22233 NATS: Pre-auth remote server crash via WebSocket frame length overflow in wsRead CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2022-11116 NATS nats-server 2.2.0 through 2.7.4 allows directory traversal because of an unintended… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2020-16319 The JWT library in NATS nats-server before 2.1.9 has Incorrect Access Control because of… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-25637 NATS has MQTT plaintext password disclosure CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
  • TI-2022-08320 NATS nats-server before 2.7.2 has Incorrect Access Control. CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2026-41950 NATS Server: Pre-auth server crash via double INFO in leafnode handshake CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
See all 35 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences