CVE-2023-25568 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.2) Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in github.com/ipfs/go-libipfs. A fix is available for github.com/ipfs/go-libipfs — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Boxo bitswap/server: DOS unbounded persistent memory leak
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-25568.
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-2023-25568 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 377,238 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/ipfs/go-libipfs🐹github.com/ipfs/go-libipfsReal-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
Boxo, formerly known as go-libipfs, is a library for building IPFS applications and implementations. In versions 0.4.0 and 0.5.0, if an attacker is able allocate arbitrary many bytes in the Bitswap server, those allocations are lasting even if the connection is closed. This affects users accepting untrusted connections with the Bitswap server and also affects users using the old API stubs at github.com/ipfs/go-libipfs/bitswap because users then transitively import github.com/ipfs/go-libipfs/bitswap/server. Boxo versions 0.6.0 and 0.4.1 contain a patch for this issue. As a workaround, those who are using the stub object at github.com/ipfs/go-libipfs/bitswap not taking advantage of the features provided by the server can refactor their code to use the new split API that will allow them to run in a client only mode: github.com/ipfs/go-libipfs/bitswap/client.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/ipfs/go-libipfs | ≥ 0.5.0&&< 0.6.0 | 0.6.0go get github.com/ipfs/go-libipfs@v0.6.0 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/ipfs/go-libipfs | all versions | 0.4.1go get github.com/ipfs/go-libipfs@v0.4.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/ipfs/go-libipfs, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/ipfs/go-libipfs to 0.6.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-25568 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-2023-25568 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-25568. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-25568 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-25568 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.