GHSA-8pgv-569h-w5rw
HIGHotelgrpc DoS vulnerability due to unbound cardinality metrics
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.
Blast Radius
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 | 0.46.0 |
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. 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 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 GHSA-8pgv-569h-w5rw 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 GHSA-8pgv-569h-w5rw 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 GHSA-8pgv-569h-w5rw. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-8pgv-569h-w5rw in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-8pgv-569h-w5rw across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.