CVE-2023-41332 is a low-severity (CVSS 3.5) CWE-755 vulnerability in github.com/cilium/cilium. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for github.com/cilium/cilium — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Denial of service via Kubernetes annotations in specific Cilium configurations
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- 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-2023-41332.
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-2023-41332 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 376,715 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/cilium/cilium🐹github.com/cilium/cilium🐹github.com/cilium/ciliumReal-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
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. In Cilium clusters where Cilium's Layer 7 proxy has been disabled, creating workloads with policy.cilium.io/proxy-visibility annotations (in Cilium >= v1.13) or io.cilium.proxy-visibility annotations (in Cilium <= v1.12) causes the Cilium agent to segfault on the node to which the workload is assigned. Existing traffic on the affected node will continue to flow, but the Cilium agent on the node will not able to process changes to workloads running on the node. This will also prevent workloads from being able to start on the affected node. The denial of service will be limited to the node on which the workload is scheduled, however an attacker may be able to schedule workloads on the node of their choosing, which could lead to targeted attacks. This issue has been resolved in Cilium versions 1.14.2, 1.13.7, and 1.12.14. Users unable to upgrade can avoid this denial of service attack by enabling the Layer 7 proxy.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/cilium/cilium | ≥ 1.14.0&&< 1.14.2 | 1.14.2go get github.com/cilium/cilium@v1.14.2 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/cilium/cilium | all versions | 1.12.14go get github.com/cilium/cilium@v1.12.14 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/cilium/cilium | ≥ 1.13.0&&< 1.13.7 | 1.13.7go get github.com/cilium/cilium@v1.13.7 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/cilium/cilium, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/cilium/cilium to 1.14.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-41332 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-2023-41332 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-41332. 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-2023-41332 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-41332 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.