CVE-2023-50248 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.5) CWE-130 vulnerability in ckan. A fix is available for ckan — see the affected versions and patch details below.
CKAN out of memory error when submitting the dataset form with a specially-crafted field
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-2023-50248 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
ckan🐍ckanReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
CKAN is an open-source data management system for powering data hubs and data portals. Starting in version 2.0.0 and prior to versions 2.9.10 and 2.10.3, when submitting a POST request to the /dataset/new endpoint (including either the auth cookie or the Authorization header) with a specially-crafted field, an attacker can create an out-of-memory error in the hosting server. To trigger this error, the attacker need to have permissions to create or edit datasets. This vulnerability has been patched in CKAN 2.10.3 and 2.9.10.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | ckan | ≥ 2.0&&< 2.9.10 | 2.9.10pip install --upgrade 'ckan==2.9.10' |
| 🐍PyPI | ckan | ≥ 2.10.0&&< 2.10.3 | 2.10.3pip install --upgrade 'ckan==2.10.3' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for ckan, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update ckan to 2.9.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-50248 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-2023-50248 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-50248. 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-2023-50248 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-50248 across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.