CVE-2023-46442Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Denial of service via nonterminating method-body retrieval

Published May 24, 2024 · Updated Feb 13, 2025

An infinite loop in Soot before 4.4.1 under Java 8 allows attackers to exhaust memory by processing a crafted class file. retrieveActiveBody fails to terminate while retrieving a maliciously crafted method body, consuming resources until the JVM runs out of memory. Exploitation requires Soot under Java 8 to analyze the crafted bytecode and interrupts the analysis process.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability0.92%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

An infinite loop in Soot before 4.4.1 under Java 8 allows attackers to exhaust memory by processing a crafted class file. retrieveActiveBody fails to terminate while retrieving a maliciously crafted method body, consuming resources until the JVM runs out of memory. Exploitation requires Soot under Java 8 to analyze the crafted bytecode and interrupts the analysis process.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-46442
Published
May 24, 2024
Updated
Feb 13, 2025
Vendor
Soot OSS
Product
Soot
Classifications
CWE-400, CWE-835, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 24, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 13, 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?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <4.4.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Soot OSS · Sootversion=0 <4.4.1

Published CVSS scores

4.3CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
7.5GitHub Advisory DatabaseCVSS: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 exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-400Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
CWE-835Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
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

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