CVE-2023-25656
HIGHCVE-2023-25656 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-770 vulnerability in github.com/notaryproject/notation-go. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2023-25656 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
notation-go has excessive memory allocation on verification
Blast Radius
github.com/notaryproject/notation-goReal-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
notation-go is a collection of libraries for supporting Notation sign, verify, push, and pull of oci artifacts. Prior to version 1.0.0-rc.3, notation-go users will find their application using excessive memory when verifying signatures. The application will be killed, and thus availability is impacted. The problem has been patched in the release v1.0.0-rc.3. Some workarounds are available. Users can review their own trust policy file and check if the identity string contains =#. Meanwhile, users should only put trusted certificates in their trust stores referenced by their own trust policy files, and make sure the authenticity validation is set to enforce.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/notaryproject/notation-go | all versions | 1.0.0-rc.3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/notaryproject/notation-go. 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/notaryproject/notation-go to 1.0.0-rc.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-25656 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-2023-25656 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-2023-25656. 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-2023-25656 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2023-25656 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.