Chall-Manager's HTTP Gateway have no header check timeout leading to potential slow loris attacks
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-770.
Summary
Chall-Manager is a platform-agnostic system able to start Challenges on Demand of a player. The HTTP Gateway processes headers, but with no timeout set. With a slow loris attack, an attacker could cause Denial of Service (DoS). Exploitation does not require authentication nor authorization, so anyone can exploit it. It should nonetheless not be exploitable as it is highly recommended to bury Chall-Manager deep within the infrastructure due to its large capabilities, so no users could reach the system. Patch has been implemented by commit 1385bd8 and shipped in v0.1.4.
Why it matters now
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
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ctfer-io | chall-manager | before 0.1.4 | 0.1.4 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/ctfer-io/chall-manager (Go) | before 0.1.4 | 0.1.4 | Patch available | GHSA-ggmv-j932-q89q |
- chall-manager Vendorctfer-io Affected before 0.1.4 Fixed in 0.1.4 Patch available CNA
- github.com/ctfer-io/chall-manager (Go) Vendor— Affected before 0.1.4 Fixed in 0.1.4 Patch available GHSA-ggmv-j932-q89q
Remediation
- Fix · CNA chall-manager (ctfer-io) Fixed in 0.1.4
- Fix · GHSA-ggmv-j932-q89q github.com/ctfer-io/chall-manager (Go) Fixed in 0.1.4 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-53634
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-ggmv-j932-q89q
References
Advisory 2
More ctfer-io Chall-manager vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-33560 Chall-Manager's scenario decoding process does not check for zip bombs CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-25257 Chall-Manager's invalid NetworkPolicy enables a malicious actor to pivot into another namespace CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.9
- TI-2025-33559 Chall-Manager's scenario decoding process does not check for zip slips CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.8
Sources
- CVE-2025-53634 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-53634 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-ggmv-j932-q89q · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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