distribution catalog API endpoint can lead to OOM via malicious user input

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

7.5 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS

• CVE-2023-2253: 0.94% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 60.95 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact Systems that run distribution built after a specific commit running on memory-restricted environments can suffer from denial of service by a crafted malicious /v2/catalog API endpoint request. Patches Upgrade to at least 2.8.2-beta.1 if you are running v2.8.x release. If you use the code from the main branch, update at least to the commit after f55a6552b006a381d9167e328808565dd2bf77dc. Workarounds There is no way to work around this issue without patching. Restrict access to the affected API endpoint: see the recommendations section. References /v2/catalog endpoint accepts a parameter to control the maximum amount of records returned (query string: n). When not given the default n=100 is used. The server trusts that n has an acceptable value, however when using a maliciously large value, it allocates an array/slice of n of strings before filling the slice with data. This behaviour was introduced ~7yrs ago [1]. Recommendation The /v2/catalog endpoint was designed specifically…

Published by the source

11 May 2023, 20:37 UTC

Last modified by the source

12 Nov 2023, 05:04 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:00 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-hqxw-f8mx-cpmw

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2023-2253

Advisory: distribution catalog API endpoint can lead to OOM via malicious user input
IDs: CVE-2023-2253, GHSA-hqxw-f8mx-cpmw
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2023-2253 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:00 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.5)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: github.com/docker/distribution 2.8.2-beta.1. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/docker/distribution: affected < 2.8.2-beta.1; fixed in 2.8.2-beta.1

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/docker/distribution: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on github.com/docker/distribution.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-hqxw-f8mx-cpmw (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-hqxw-f8mx-cpmw lists affected ranges: Go github.com/docker/distribution >=0 <2.8.2-beta.1)

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