ginuerzh/gost vulnerable to Timing Attack

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2023-32691: 0.57% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 47.42 (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.

Timing attacks occur when an attacker can guess a secret by observing a difference in processing time for valid and invalid inputs. Sensitive secrets such as passwords, token and API keys should be compared only using a constant-time comparision function. More information on this attack type can be found in this blog post. Root Cause Analysis In this case, the vulnerability occurs due to the following code. https://github.com/ginuerzh/gost/blob/1c62376e0880e4094bd3731e06bd4f7842638f6a/auth.go#L46-L46 Here, a untrusted input, sourced from a HTTP header, is compared directly with a secret. Since, this comparision is not secure, an attacker can mount a side-channel timing attack to guess the password. Remediation This can be easily fixed using a constant time comparing function such as crypto/subtle's ConstantTimeCompare. An example fix can be found in https://github.com/runatlantis/atlantis/commit/48870911974adddaa4c99c8089e79b7d787fa820 Alternatively, one can apply the patch below

Published by the source

22 May 2023, 19:47 UTC

Last modified by the source

4 Mar 2025, 21:36 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:09 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-qjrq-hm79-49ww

Preview the exact text before you copy it. Commands are read-only suggestions; review them before running anything.

# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2023-32691

Advisory: ginuerzh/gost vulnerable to Timing Attack
IDs: CVE-2023-32691, GHSA-qjrq-hm79-49ww
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2023-32691 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:09 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 5.9)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor response not established. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/ginuerzh/gost: affected <= 2.11.5

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

## Supported action
No complete vendor fix is recorded. Follow the primary source's mitigation guidance and check this record again before closing anything.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on github.com/ginuerzh/gost.
- 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-qjrq-hm79-49ww (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-qjrq-hm79-49ww lists affected ranges: Go github.com/ginuerzh/gost >=0 <=2.11.5)

Commands are suggestions: review each one before running it.