How severe is CVE-2023-25153?

CVE-2023-25153 has a CVSS score of 6.2/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-25153?

CVE-2023-25153 affects the following packages: github.com/containerd/containerd (Go), github.com/containerd/containerd (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2023-25153?

Update github.com/containerd/containerd to 1.5.18 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-25153 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-25153 in my Go dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/containerd/containerd. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-25153 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against CVE-2023-25153?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-25153 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2023-25153 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2023-25153 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2023-25153?

CVE-2023-25153 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.4%, placing it in the 35th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

When was CVE-2023-25153 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-25153 was published on February 16, 2023 and was last updated on April 16, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CVE-2023-25153: containerd OCI image importer memory exhaustion…

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.4%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk35th percentile+0.23%

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.

Blast Radius

2 pkgs affected

🐹github.com/containerd/containerd🐹github.com/containerd/containerd

Real-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

containerd is an open source container runtime. Before versions 1.6.18 and 1.5.18, when importing an OCI image, there was no limit on the number of bytes read for certain files. A maliciously crafted image with a large file where a limit was not applied could cause a denial of service. This bug has been fixed in containerd 1.6.18 and 1.5.18. Users should update to these versions to resolve the issue. As a workaround, ensure that only trusted images are used and that only trusted users have permissions to import images.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`github.com/containerd/containerd`	all versions	1.5.18
🐹Go	`github.com/containerd/containerd`	≥ 1.6.0&&< 1.6.18	1.6.18

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/containerd/containerd. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update github.com/containerd/containerd to 1.5.18 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-25153 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 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-25153 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Tailored to CVE-2023-25153. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

containerd is an open source container runtime. Before versions 1.6.18 and 1.5.18, when importing an OCI image, there was no limit on the number of bytes read for certain files. A maliciously crafted image with a large file where a limit was not applied could cause a denial of service. This bug has been fixed in containerd 1.6.18 and 1.5.18. Users should update to these versions to resolve the issue. As a workaround, ensure that only trusted images are used and that only trusted users have permissions to import images.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2023-25153 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2023-25153 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVE-2023-25153