CVE-2023-2253Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Service crash via unbounded catalog allocation

Published Jun 6, 2023 · Updated Jan 7, 2025

Improper input validation in Distribution before 2.8.2-beta.1 allows remote attackers to crash the registry via /v2/_catalog. The catalog handler trusts the n query value and allocates a string slice of that requested size before retrieving repository names. The endpoint must be reachable in a memory-restricted registry holding an image; a sufficiently large value exhausts memory and terminates the process.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability0.94%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper input validation in Distribution before 2.8.2-beta.1 allows remote attackers to crash the registry via /v2/_catalog. The catalog handler trusts the n query value and allocates a string slice of that requested size before retrieving repository names. The endpoint must be reachable in a memory-restricted registry holding an image; a sufficiently large value exhausts memory and terminates the process.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-2253
Published
Jun 6, 2023
Updated
Jan 7, 2025
Vendor
Cloud Native Computing Foundation
Product
Distribution
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 6, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 7, 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=NA

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Cloud Native Computing Foundation · Distributionversion=NA

Published CVSS scores

7.5GitHubCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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.

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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 exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

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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