github.com/ipfs/kubo affected by DOS Bitswap unbounded persistent memory leak

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

No dated EPSS signal available.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact An attacker is able allocate arbitrarily many bytes in the Bitswap server by sending many WANTBLOCK and or WANTHAVE requests which are queued in an unbounded queue, with allocations that persist even if the connection is closed. This affects users accepting or connecting untrusted connections such as by running in the public swarm and no pnet config. Nodes that are not publicly reachable but connects to untrusted nodes are also vulnerable to the untrusted nodes being connected to since libp2p connections are blindly bidirectional. Patches - 19feb15833c6f4d6e7f1e1b132efaae96d76481d boxo update in Kubo - GHSA-m974-xj4j-7qv5 patches in boxo Workarounds Use PNET, swarm filters or resource manager allows list to block untrusted connections. Note that using the resource manager will disrupt both client and server features because the bitswap protocol is a message based protocol mixing requests and responses. References - GHSA-m974-xj4j-7qv5 - CVE-2023-25568

Published by the source

11 May 2023, 20:40 UTC

Last modified by the source

11 May 2023, 20:40 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 14:58 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-qvqg-6rp8-4p9h

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# Patch Next advisory brief: GHSA-qvqg-6rp8-4p9h

Advisory: github.com/ipfs/kubo affected by DOS Bitswap unbounded persistent memory leak
IDs: GHSA-qvqg-6rp8-4p9h
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/ghsa-qvqg-6rp8-4p9h (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 14:58 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 5.3)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: github.com/ipfs/kubo 0.19.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/ipfs/kubo: affected < 0.19.0; fixed in 0.19.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/ipfs/kubo: 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/ipfs/kubo.
- 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-qvqg-6rp8-4p9h (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-qvqg-6rp8-4p9h lists affected ranges: Go github.com/ipfs/kubo >=0 <0.19.0)

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