CVE-2023-49290Public exploitNetwork attack vector

CPU exhaustion via unbounded PBES2 iteration count

Published Dec 4, 2023 · Updated May 29, 2025

Uncontrolled resource consumption in lestrrat-go jwx before 1.2.27 and 2.0.0 through 2.0.17 allows remote attackers to exhaust CPU. The JWE decrypt path accepts an attacker-controlled PBES2 p2c count and passes it to PBKDF2 without a maximum, forcing excessive key-derivation iterations. Exposure requires an application to decrypt attacker-supplied JWE; JWT signature verification alone does not reach the affected path.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.73%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Uncontrolled resource consumption in lestrrat-go jwx before 1.2.27 and 2.0.0 through 2.0.17 allows remote attackers to exhaust CPU. The JWE decrypt path accepts an attacker-controlled PBES2 p2c count and passes it to PBKDF2 without a maximum, forcing excessive key-derivation iterations. Exposure requires an application to decrypt attacker-supplied JWE; JWT signature verification alone does not reach the affected path.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-49290
Published
Dec 4, 2023
Updated
May 29, 2025
Vendor
lestrrat-go
Product
jwx
Classifications
CWE-400, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 4, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 29, 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=< 1.2.27
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 2.0.0, < 2.0.18

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

lestrrat-go · jwxversion=< 1.2.27; version=>= 2.0.0, < 2.0.18

Published CVSS scores

5.3GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
5.3NISTCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

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
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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