CVE-2023-23916

curl: HTTP multi-header compression denial of service

Severity Score

6.5

*CVSS v3.1

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

*KEV

Decision

Track*

*SSVC

Descriptions

An allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability exists in curl <v7.88.0 based on the "chained" HTTP compression algorithms, meaning that a server response can be compressed multiple times and potentially with differentalgorithms. The number of acceptable "links" in this "decompression chain" wascapped, but the cap was implemented on a per-header basis allowing a maliciousserver to insert a virtually unlimited number of compression steps simply byusing many headers. The use of such a decompression chain could result in a "malloc bomb", making curl end up spending enormous amounts of allocated heap memory, or trying to and returning out of memory errors.

A flaw was found in the Curl package. A malicious server can insert an unlimited number of compression steps. This decompression chain could result in out-of-memory errors.

Red Hat JBoss Core Services is a set of supplementary software for Red Hat JBoss middleware products. This software, such as Apache HTTP Server, is common to multiple JBoss middleware products, and is packaged under Red Hat JBoss Core Services to allow for faster distribution of updates, and for a more consistent update experience. This release of Red Hat JBoss Core Services Apache HTTP Server 2.4.51 Service Pack 2 serves as a replacement for Red Hat JBoss Core Services Apache HTTP Server 2.4.51 Service Pack 1, and includes bug fixes and enhancements, which are documented in the Release Notes document linked to in the References. Issues addressed include bypass, denial of service, double free, out of bounds read, out of bounds write, and use-after-free vulnerabilities.

*Credits: N/A

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Authentication

None

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

Complete

* Common Vulnerability Scoring System

SSVC

Decision:Track*

Exploitation

Poc

Automatable

Tech. Impact

Partial

* Organization's Worst-case Scenario

Timeline

2023-01-19 CVE Reserved
2023-02-15 CVE Published
2025-03-12 CVE Updated
2025-03-12 First Exploit
2025-07-04 EPSS Updated
---------- Exploited in Wild
---------- KEV Due Date

CWE

CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

CAPEC

References (8)

URL	Tag	Source
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/02/msg00035.html	Mailing List
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230309-0006	Third Party Advisory

URL	Date	SRC
https://hackerone.com/reports/1826048	2025-03-12

URL	Date	SRC

URL	Date	SRC
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/BQKE6TXYDHOTFHLTBZ5X73GTKI7II5KO	2024-03-27
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202310-12	2024-03-27
https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5365	2024-03-27
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-23916	2023-07-18
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2167815	2023-07-18

Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions

Vendor		Product				Version		Other		Status
Vendor	Product	Version	Other	Status	<-- -->	Vendor	Product	Version	Other	Status
Netapp Search vendor "Netapp"	H300s Firmware Search vendor "Netapp" for product "H300s Firmware"	-	-	Affected	in	Netapp Search vendor "Netapp"	H300s Search vendor "Netapp" for product "H300s"	-	-	Safe
Netapp Search vendor "Netapp"	H500s Firmware Search vendor "Netapp" for product "H500s Firmware"	-	-	Affected	in	Netapp Search vendor "Netapp"	H500s Search vendor "Netapp" for product "H500s"	-	-	Safe
Netapp Search vendor "Netapp"	H700s Firmware Search vendor "Netapp" for product "H700s Firmware"	-	-	Affected	in	Netapp Search vendor "Netapp"	H700s Search vendor "Netapp" for product "H700s"	-	-	Safe
Netapp Search vendor "Netapp"	H410s Firmware Search vendor "Netapp" for product "H410s Firmware"	-	-	Affected	in	Netapp Search vendor "Netapp"	H410s Search vendor "Netapp" for product "H410s"	-	-	Safe
Haxx Search vendor "Haxx"		Curl Search vendor "Haxx" for product "Curl"				>= 7.57.0 < 7.88.0 Search vendor "Haxx" for product "Curl" and version " >= 7.57.0 < 7.88.0"		-		Affected
Fedoraproject Search vendor "Fedoraproject"		Fedora Search vendor "Fedoraproject" for product "Fedora"				36 Search vendor "Fedoraproject" for product "Fedora" and version "36"		-		Affected
Debian Search vendor "Debian"		Debian Linux Search vendor "Debian" for product "Debian Linux"				10.0 Search vendor "Debian" for product "Debian Linux" and version "10.0"		-		Affected
Debian Search vendor "Debian"		Debian Linux Search vendor "Debian" for product "Debian Linux"				11.0 Search vendor "Debian" for product "Debian Linux" and version "11.0"		-		Affected
Netapp Search vendor "Netapp"		Clustered Data Ontap Search vendor "Netapp" for product "Clustered Data Ontap"				-		-		Affected
Splunk Search vendor "Splunk"		Universal Forwarder Search vendor "Splunk" for product "Universal Forwarder"				>= 8.2.0 < 8.2.12 Search vendor "Splunk" for product "Universal Forwarder" and version " >= 8.2.0 < 8.2.12"		-		Affected
Splunk Search vendor "Splunk"		Universal Forwarder Search vendor "Splunk" for product "Universal Forwarder"				>= 9.0.0 < 9.0.6 Search vendor "Splunk" for product "Universal Forwarder" and version " >= 9.0.0 < 9.0.6"		-		Affected
Splunk Search vendor "Splunk"		Universal Forwarder Search vendor "Splunk" for product "Universal Forwarder"				9.1.0 Search vendor "Splunk" for product "Universal Forwarder" and version "9.1.0"		-		Affected