Summary
VTAdmin users that can create shards can deny access to other functions
Workarounds
- Always use
vtctldclientto create shards, instead of using VTAdmin - Disable creating shards from VTAdmin using RBAC
- Delete the topology record for the offending shard using the client for your topology server. For example, if you created a shard called
a/bin keyspacecommerce, and you are running etcd, it can be deleted by doing something like
% etcdctl --endpoints "http://${ETCD_SERVER}" del /vitess/global/keyspaces/commerce/shards/a/b/Shard
References
https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/issues/12842
Found during a security audit sponsored by the CNCF and facilitated by OSTIF.
Impact
Users can either intentionally or inadvertently create a shard containing / characters from VTAdmin such that from that point on, anyone who tries to create a new shard from VTAdmin will receive an error.
Attempting to view the keyspace(s) will also no longer work.
Creating a shard using vtctldclient does not have the same problem because the CLI validates the input correctly.
The application does not adequately validate input before processing it, allowing unexpected values to reach sensitive code paths. Typical impact: varies by context: data corruption, logic bypass, or denial of service.
CVE-2023-29195 has a CVSS score of 4.1 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, high privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (0.16.2); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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v16.0.2, corresponding to 0.16.2 on pkg.go.dev
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2023-29195? CVE-2023-29195 is a medium-severity improper input validation vulnerability in vitess.io/vitess (go), affecting versions < 0.16.2. It is fixed in 0.16.2. The application does not adequately validate input before processing it, allowing unexpected values to reach sensitive code paths.
- How severe is CVE-2023-29195? CVE-2023-29195 has a CVSS score of 4.1 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of vitess.io/vitess are affected by CVE-2023-29195? vitess.io/vitess (go) versions < 0.16.2 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2023-29195? Yes. CVE-2023-29195 is fixed in 0.16.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2023-29195 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-29195 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2023-29195 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2023-29195? Upgrade
vitess.io/vitessto 0.16.2 or later.