CVE-2023-43669: Tungstenite Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-9mcr-873m-xcxp
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-400
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-43669 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Tungstenite libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves tungstenite allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.20.1.

CVE-2023-43669 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-43669
GHSA Identifier GHSA-9mcr-873m-xcxp
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Tungstenite
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2023-43669

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Tungstenite dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

tungstenite fixed: 0.20.1 
Upgrade tungstenite to 0.20.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

inspect dependencies for tungstenite

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2023-43669, inspect your project dependencies for Tungstenite:

inspect dependencies for tungstenite

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Tungstenite in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.20.1), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, where the product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource. In Tungstenite, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

The Tungstenite crate through 0.20.0 for Rust allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (minutes of CPU consumption) via an excessive length of an HTTP header in a client handshake. The length affects both how many times a parse is attempted (e.g., thousands of times) and the average amount of data for each parse attempt (e.g., millions of bytes).

CVE-2023-43669 Affected Tungstenite Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.20.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
tungstenite
 crates.io
< 0.20.1
0.20.1

References

NVD — CVE-2023-43669 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-43669
Tungstenite Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/snapview/tungstenite-rs/issues/376
Tungstenite Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/github/advisory-database/pull/2752
Tungstenite Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/snapview/tungstenite-rs/pull/379
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/snapview/tungstenite-rs/commit/8b3ecd3cc0008145ab4bc8d0657c39d09db8c7e2
Tungstenite Security Information SECURITY
https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-43669
rustsec.org/advisories/rustsec-... WEB
https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2023-0065.html
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TT7SF6CQ5VHAGFLWNXY64NFSW4WIWE7D
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/THK6G6CD4VW6RCROWUV2C4HSINKK3XAK
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/R77EUWPZVP5WSMNXUXUDNHR7G7OI5NGM
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TT7SF6CQ5VHAGFLWNXY64NFSW4WIWE7D
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/THK6G6CD4VW6RCROWUV2C4HSINKK3XAK
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/R77EUWPZVP5WSMNXUXUDNHR7G7OI5NGM
Tungstenite Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/snapview/tungstenite-rs
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-9mcr-873m-xcxp
MITRE CVE Database — CVE-2023-43669 MITRE
https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/407.html
crates.io/crates/tungstenite/... WEB
https://crates.io/crates/tungstenite/versions
bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1215563
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2240110

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-43669?
CVE-2023-43669 is a security vulnerability in Tungstenite involving Tungstenite allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Tungstenite versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.20.1 across affected packages: tungstenite.
What version fixes CVE-2023-43669?
Upgrading to 0.20.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is tungstenite affected?
Yes, tungstenite is affected in releases prior to 0.20.1. Upgrade your dependency to 0.20.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-43669?
CVE-2023-43669 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-43669?
CVE-2023-43669 is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2023-43669?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for tungstenite'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-9mcr-873m-xcxp",
  "modified" : "2024-02-16T22:38:02Z",
  "published" : "2023-09-21T06:30:25Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-43669" ],
  "summary" : "Tungstenite allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service",
  "details" : "The Tungstenite crate through 0.20.0 for Rust allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (minutes of CPU consumption) via an excessive length of an HTTP header in a client handshake. The length affects both how many times a parse is attempted (e.g., thousands of times) and the average amount of data for each parse attempt (e.g., millions of bytes).",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "tungstenite"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.20.1"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 0.20.0"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-43669"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/snapview/tungstenite-rs/issues/376"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/github/advisory-database/pull/2752"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/snapview/tungstenite-rs/pull/379"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/snapview/tungstenite-rs/commit/8b3ecd3cc0008145ab4bc8d0657c39d09db8c7e2"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-43669"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2023-0065.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TT7SF6CQ5VHAGFLWNXY64NFSW4WIWE7D"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/THK6G6CD4VW6RCROWUV2C4HSINKK3XAK"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/R77EUWPZVP5WSMNXUXUDNHR7G7OI5NGM"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TT7SF6CQ5VHAGFLWNXY64NFSW4WIWE7D"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/THK6G6CD4VW6RCROWUV2C4HSINKK3XAK"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/R77EUWPZVP5WSMNXUXUDNHR7G7OI5NGM"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/snapview/tungstenite-rs"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-9mcr-873m-xcxp"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/407.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://crates.io/crates/tungstenite/versions"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1215563"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2240110"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-09-21T17:18:59Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-09-21T06:15:13Z"
  }
}