{"id":"CVE-2023-2253","aliases":["GHSA-hqxw-f8mx-cpmw","GO-2023-1772"],"url":"https://o3.security/vulnerability/CVE-2023-2253","summary":"distribution catalog API endpoint can lead to OOM via malicious user input","details":"### Impact\n\nSystems that run `distribution` built after a specific commit running on memory-restricted environments can suffer from denial of service by a crafted malicious `/v2/_catalog` API endpoint request. \n\n### Patches\n\nUpgrade to at least 2.8.2-beta.1 if you are running `v2.8.x` release. If you use the code from the main branch, update at least to the commit after [f55a6552b006a381d9167e328808565dd2bf77dc](https://github.com/distribution/distribution/commit/f55a6552b006a381d9167e328808565dd2bf77dc).\n\n### Workarounds\n\nThere is no way to work around this issue without patching. Restrict access to the affected API endpoint: see the recommendations section.\n\n### References\n\n`/v2/_catalog` endpoint accepts a parameter to control the maximum amount of records returned (query string: `n`).\n\nWhen not given the default `n=100` is used.  The server trusts that `n` has an acceptable value, however when using a \nmaliciously large value, it allocates an array/slice of `n` of strings before filling the slice with data.\n\nThis behaviour was introduced ~7yrs ago [1].\n\n### Recommendation\n\nThe `/v2/_catalog` endpoint was designed specifically to do registry syncs with search or other API systems. Such an endpoint would create a lot of load on the backend system, due to overfetch required to serve a request in certain implementations.\n\nBecause of this, we strongly recommend keeping this API endpoint behind heightened privilege and avoiding leaving it exposed to the internet.\n\n###  For more information\n\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n* Open an issue in [distribution repository](https://github.com/distribution/distribution)\n* Email us at [cncf-distribution-security@lists.cncf.io](mailto:cncf-distribution-security@lists.cncf.io)\n\n[1] [faulty commit](https://github.com/distribution/distribution/blob/b7e26bac741c76cb792f8e14c41a2163b5dae8df/registry/handlers/catalog.go#L45)","published":"2023-06-06T20:15:12.493Z","modified":"2026-04-16T04:35:21.290545915Z","cvss":{"score":6.5,"severity":"MEDIUM","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"},"epss":null,"cisaKev":null,"exploitsKnown":0,"affectedPackages":[{"ecosystem":"Go","name":"github.com/docker/distribution","fixedVersion":"2.8.2-beta.1"}],"fix":{"url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/commit/f55a6552b006a381d9167e328808565dd2bf77dc","label":"distribution/distribution@f55a655"},"references":[{"type":"WEB","url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/06/msg00035.html"},{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2189886"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/security/advisories/GHSA-hqxw-f8mx-cpmw"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-2253"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution/commit/f55a6552b006a381d9167e328808565dd2bf77dc"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/distribution/distribution"}],"provenance":{"sources":["OSV.dev","FIRST.org (EPSS)"],"lastVerified":"2026-04-16T04:35:21.290545915Z"}}