CVE-2023-47108 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-770 vulnerability in go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc. A fix is available for go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc — see the affected versions and patch details below.
DoS vulnerability in otelgrpc (uncontrolled resource consumption) due to unbound cardinality metrics
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-47108.
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-2023-47108 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 377,636 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
go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpcReal-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
Summary
The grpc Unary Server Interceptor opentelemetry-go-contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc/interceptor.go
// UnaryServerInterceptor returns a grpc.UnaryServerInterceptor suitable
// for use in a grpc.NewServer call.
func UnaryServerInterceptor(opts ...Option) grpc.UnaryServerInterceptor {
out of the box adds labels
net.peer.sock.addrnet.peer.sock.port
that have unbound cardinality. It leads to the server's potential memory exhaustion when many malicious requests are sent.
Details
An attacker can easily flood the peer address and port for requests.
PoC
Apply the attached patch to the example and run the client multiple times. Observe how each request will create a unique histogram and how the memory consumption increases during it.
Impact
In order to be affected, the program has to configure a metrics pipeline, use UnaryServerInterceptor, and does not filter any client IP address and ports via middleware or proxies, etc.
Others
It is similar to already reported vulnerabilities.
- GHSA-5r5m-65gx-7vrh (open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib)
- GHSA-cg3q-j54f-5p7p (prometheus/client_golang)
Workaround for affected versions
As a workaround to stop being affected, a view removing the attributes can be used.
The other possibility is to disable grpc metrics instrumentation by passing otelgrpc.WithMeterProvider option with noop.NewMeterProvider.
Solution provided by upgrading
In PR #4322, to be released with v0.46.0, the attributes were removed.
References
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc | ≥ 0.37.0&&< 0.46.0 | 0.46.0go get go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc@v0.46.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc to 0.46.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-47108 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-2023-47108 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-47108. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
While no authentication is required, there are a significant number of non-default factors that prevent widespread exploitation of this issue. To affect a service, all of the following must be true: - The go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc package must be in use - Configured a…
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.6 for RHEL 8 | multicluster-engine/assisted-image-service-rhel8:v2.6.4-4 | RHSA-2024:11293 |
| multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 for RHEL 8 | multicluster-engine/assisted-service-8-rhel8:v2.7.2-1 | RHSA-2024:10857 |
| OpenShift Custom Metrics Autoscaler 2 | custom-metrics-autoscaler/custom-metrics-autoscaler-adapter-rhel8:2.12.1-376 | RHSA-2024:1812 |
| Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.10 for RHEL 9 | rhacm2/acm-cluster-permission-rhel9:v2.10.5-5 | RHSA-2024:6236 |
| Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.9 for RHEL 8 | rhacm2/acm-governance-policy-addon-controller-rhel8:v2.9.3-9 | RHSA-2024:1328 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 | cri-o-0:1.25.5-6.rhaos4.12.gitfcf6ef3.el8 | RHSA-2024:0489 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13 | cri-o-0:1.26.4-9.1.rhaos4.13.gite26e057.el8 | RHSA-2024:0288 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13 | openshift4/ose-aws-cloud-controller-manager-rhel8:v4.13.0-202402070238.p0.gf116a0d.assembly.stream.el8 | RHSA-2024:0741 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-47108 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-47108 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.