CVE-2017-11468 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-770 vulnerability in github.com/docker/distribution. A fix is available for github.com/docker/distribution — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Docker Registry has Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2017-11468 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,636 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/docker/distributionReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Docker Registry before 2.6.2 in Docker Distribution does not properly restrict the amount of content accepted from a user, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via the manifest endpoint.
Specific Go Packages Affected
github.com/docker/distribution/registry/storage github.com/docker/distribution/registry/handlers
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/docker/distribution | all versions | 2.7.0-rc.0go get github.com/docker/distribution@v2.7.0-rc.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/docker/distribution, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/docker/distribution to 2.7.0-rc.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2017-11468 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2017-11468 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2017-11468. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Extras | docker-distribution-0:2.6.2-1.git48294d9.el7 | RHSA-2017:2603 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2017-11468 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2017-11468 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.