CVE-2023-38737Network attack vector

Service interruption via crafted REST request

Published Aug 16, 2023 · Updated Oct 2, 2024

Denial of service in IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty 22.0.0.13 through 23.0.0.7 allows remote attackers to exhaust server memory. With restfulWS-3.0 or restfulWS-3.1 enabled, the server processes a specially crafted request in a way that consumes memory resources; IBM has not disclosed the specific request-parsing defect. The affected RESTful Web Services feature must be enabled, and successful exploitation consumes memory until the application server cannot continue serving requests.

CVSS severity5.9
Medium
EPSS probability1.02%
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 IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty 22.0.0.13 through 23.0.0.7 allows remote attackers to exhaust server memory. With restfulWS-3.0 or restfulWS-3.1 enabled, the server processes a specially crafted request in a way that consumes memory resources; IBM has not disclosed the specific request-parsing defect. The affected RESTful Web Services feature must be enabled, and successful exploitation consumes memory until the application server cannot continue serving requests.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-38737
Published
Aug 16, 2023
Updated
Oct 2, 2024
Vendor
IBM
Product
IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty
Classifications
CWE-20, CWE-400, T1499.003
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 16, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 2, 2024Record 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=22.0.0.13 <=23.0.0.7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

IBM · IBM WebSphere Application Server Libertyversion=22.0.0.13 <=23.0.0.7

Published CVSS scores

5.9IBM CorporationCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.5NISTCVSS: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.

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-20Improper Input Validation
CWE-400Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
T1499.003Application Exhaustion Flood

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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