Resource exhaustion in Curl
CVE-2023-38039
When curl retrieves an HTTP response, it stores the incoming headers so that they can be accessed later via the libcurl headers API. However, curl did not have a limit in how many or how large headers it would accept in a response, allowing a malicious server to stream an endless series of headers and eventually cause curl to run out of heap memory.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.564 (99.1th percentile), scored .
High probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — patch promptly. 99th percentile — 99.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.581 · newest: 0.564 · change: -0.017
Affected products
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- hackerone.com/reports/2072338 (Exploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/… (Mailing List)
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/… (Mailing List)
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/… (Mailing List)
- security.gentoo.org/glsa/202310-12 (Third Party Advisory)
- security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20231013-0005/ (Third Party Advisory)
- seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2023/Oct/17 (Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
- support.apple.com/kb/HT214036 (Third Party Advisory)
- www.insyde.com/security-pledge/SA-2023064 (Third Party Advisory)
- support.apple.com/kb/HT214063 (Third Party Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2023-38039?
- CVE-2023-38039 is a high-severity vulnerability in Curl, classified under Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2023-09-15.
- How severe is CVE-2023-38039?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2023-38039 known to be exploited?
- 5 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.