CVE-2022-23635Network attack vector

Control-plane crash via null JWT payload dereference

Published Feb 22, 2022 · Updated Apr 23, 2025

Denial of service in Istio istiod before 1.11.7, 1.12.0 through 1.12.3, and 1.13.0 allows remote attackers to crash the control plane. The JWT audience extraction path decodes a crafted authorization-header payload into a pointer-to-pointer, allowing JSON null to leave the payload nil before dereference. Port 15012 requires no authentication; it is normally cluster-restricted but can be internet-exposed in multicluster deployments.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability1.66%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in Istio istiod before 1.11.7, 1.12.0 through 1.12.3, and 1.13.0 allows remote attackers to crash the control plane. The JWT audience extraction path decodes a crafted authorization-header payload into a pointer-to-pointer, allowing JSON null to leave the payload nil before dereference. Port 15012 requires no authentication; it is normally cluster-restricted but can be internet-exposed in multicluster deployments.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-23635
Published
Feb 22, 2022
Updated
Apr 23, 2025
Vendor
Istio
Product
Istio
Classifications
CWE-1284, CWE-287, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 22, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 23, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 1.11.7
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 1.12.0, < 1.12.4
  3. Affected versionversion=>= 1.13.0, < 1.13.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Istio · Istioversion=< 1.11.7; version=>= 1.12.0, < 1.12.4; version=>= 1.13.0, < 1.13.1

Published CVSS scores

7.5GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.0NISTAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-1284Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input
CWE-287Improper Authentication
T1499.004Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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