How severe is CVE-2023-23916?

CVE-2023-23916 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2023-23916 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (74th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2023-23916?

CVE-2023-23916 primarily affects Haxx Curl. In total, 11 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2023-23916?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2023-23916 published?

CVE-2023-23916 was published on 2023-02-23 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2023-23916

CVE-2023-23916 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Haxx Curl with a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-770.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 6.5)
EPSS exploit prediction: 2% (74th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-770
Affected product: Haxx Curl
Published: 2023-02-23
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

An allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability exists in curl <v7.88.0 based on the "chained" HTTP compression algorithms, meaning that a server response can be compressed multiple times and potentially with differentalgorithms. The number of acceptable "links" in this "decompression chain" wascapped, but the cap was implemented on a per-header basis allowing a maliciousserver to insert a virtually unlimited number of compression steps simply byusing many headers. The use of such a decompression chain could result in a "malloc bomb", making curl end up spending enormous amounts of allocated heap memory, or trying to and returning out of memory errors.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-23916?: An allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability exists in curl <v7.88.0 based on the "chained" HTTP compression algorithms, meaning that a server response can be compressed multiple times and potentially with differentalgorithms. The number of acceptable "links" in this "decompression chain" wascapped, but the cap was implemented on a per-header basis allowing a maliciousserver to insert a virtually unlimited number of compression steps simply byusing many headers. The use of such a decompression chain could result in a "malloc bomb", making curl end up spending enormous amounts of allocated heap memory, or trying to and returning out of memory errors.
How severe is CVE-2023-23916?: CVE-2023-23916 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2023-23916 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (74th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2023-23916?: CVE-2023-23916 primarily affects Haxx Curl. In total, 11 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2023-23916?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2023-23916 published?: CVE-2023-23916 was published on 2023-02-23 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (11)

cpe:2.3:a:haxx:curl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:36:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h300s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h500s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h700s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h410s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:netapp:clustered_data_ontap:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:splunk:universal_forwarder:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:splunk:universal_forwarder:9.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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