Summary
Artifact Hub has Incorrect Docker Hub registry check
Impact
During a security audit of Artifact Hub's code base, a security researcher at OffSec identified a bug in which the registryIsDockerHub function was only checking that the registry domain had the docker.io suffix.
Artifact Hub allows providing some Docker credentials that are used to increase the rate limit applied when interacting with the Docker Hub registry API to read publicly available content. Due to the incorrect check described above, it'd be possible to hijack those credentials by purchasing a domain which ends with docker.io and deploying a fake OCI registry on it.
https://artifacthub.io/ uses some credentials that only have permissions to read public content available in the Docker Hub. However, even though credentials for private repositories (disabled on artifacthub.io) are handled in a different way, other Artifact Hub deployments could have been using them for a different purpose.
CVE-2023-45821 has a CVSS score of 5.4 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, low 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 (1.16.0); 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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This issue has been resolved in version 1.16.0.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2023-45821? CVE-2023-45821 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in github.com/artifacthub/hub (go), affecting versions < 1.16.0. It is fixed in 1.16.0.
- How severe is CVE-2023-45821? CVE-2023-45821 has a CVSS score of 5.4 (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 github.com/artifacthub/hub are affected by CVE-2023-45821? github.com/artifacthub/hub (go) versions < 1.16.0 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2023-45821? Yes. CVE-2023-45821 is fixed in 1.16.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2023-45821 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-45821 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-2023-45821 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-2023-45821? Upgrade
github.com/artifacthub/hubto 1.16.0 or later.