CVE-2023-29194 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.1) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in vitess.io/vitess. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2023-29194 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
vitess allows users to create keyspaces that can deny access to already existing keyspaces
Real-World Exposure
vitess.io/vitessReal-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
Vitess is a database clustering system for horizontal scaling of MySQL. Users can either intentionally or inadvertently create a keyspace containing / characters such that from that point on, anyone who tries to view keyspaces from VTAdmin will receive an error. Trying to list all the keyspaces using vtctldclient GetKeyspaces will also return an error. Note that all other keyspaces can still be administered using the CLI (vtctldclient). This issue is fixed in version 16.0.1. As a workaround, delete the offending keyspace using a CLI client (vtctldclient).
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | vitess.io/vitess | all versions | 0.16.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for vitess.io/vitess. 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 vitess.io/vitess to 0.16.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-29194 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-2023-29194 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-2023-29194. 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-2023-29194 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2023-29194 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.