Broker crash via retained-message data race
Published Jun 8, 2023 · Updated Jan 6, 2025
Use-after-free in NanoMQ 0.17.2 allows remote attackers to crash the MQTT broker by repeatedly sending malformed publish packets. The nni_mqtt_msg_get_publish_property() path in mqtt_msg.c reads retained-message properties while broker concurrency can free shared message storage; the patch clones retained messages to prevent that race. Triggering requires network access to the MQTT listener and repeated malformed packets, with the upstream reproducer reporting a crash after 2 to 15 replays.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in NanoMQ 0.17.2 allows remote attackers to crash the MQTT broker by repeatedly sending malformed publish packets. The nni_mqtt_msg_get_publish_property() path in mqtt_msg.c reads retained-message properties while broker concurrency can free shared message storage; the patch clones retained messages to prevent that race. Triggering requires network access to the MQTT listener and repeated malformed packets, with the upstream reproducer reporting a crash after 2 to 15 replays.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-33657
- Published
- Jun 8, 2023
- Updated
- Jan 6, 2025
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 8, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 6, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
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.
Public exploit references
- Malformed publish-packet reproducerproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo