CVE-2023-51775 — jose4j
MEDIUMCVE-2023-51775 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in org.bitbucket.b_c:jose4j. A fix is available for org.bitbucket.b_c:jose4j — see the affected versions and patch details below.
jose4j denial of service via specifically crafted JWE
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.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-51775.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
org.bitbucket.b_c:jose4jReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The jose4j component before 0.9.4 for Java allows attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a large p2c (aka PBES2 Count) value.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.bitbucket.b_c:jose4j | all versions | 0.9.4org.bitbucket.b_c:jose4j:0.9.4 |
Affected Products
jose4jjose4j_projectDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.bitbucket.b_c:jose4j, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.bitbucket.b_c:jose4j to 0.9.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-51775 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.
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.
The vulnerability in the jose4j library, where the "p2c" parameter in PBKDF2-based JWE key management algorithms can be manipulated to induce high computational consumption, is classified as moderate severity due to its potential impact on service availability and resource exhaustion. By setting a large value for…
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2023-51775 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| HawtIO 4.0.0 for Red Hat build of Apache Camel 4 | jose4j | RHSA-2024:3550 |
| Red Hat build of Apicurio Registry 2.6.1 GA | jose4j | RHSA-2024:4873 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7 | jose4j | RHSA-2024:8080 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 for RHEL 8 | eap7-hal-console-0:3.3.24-1.Final_redhat_00001.1.el8eap | RHSA-2024:8076 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 for RHEL 9 | eap7-hal-console-0:3.3.24-1.Final_redhat_00001.1.el9eap | RHSA-2024:8077 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 on RHEL 7 | eap7-hal-console-0:3.3.24-1.Final_redhat_00001.1.el7eap | RHSA-2024:8075 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 8 | jose4j | RHSA-2024:4392 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform Expansion Pack | see advisory | RHSA-2024:4386 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-51775 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.