CVE-2023-6337

HashiCorp Vault and Vault Enterprise 1.12.0 and newer are vulnerable to a denial of service through memory exhaustion of the host when handling large unauthenticated and authenticated HTTP requests from a client. Vault will attempt to map the request to memory, resulting in the exhaustion of available memory on the host, which may cause Vault to crash.

Fixed in Vault 1.15.4, 1.14.8, 1.13.12.

The application allocates resources such as memory, threads, or file descriptors based on untrusted input without enforcing a cap. Typical impact: resource exhaustion leading to denial of service.

CVE-2023-6337 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no 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 (1.15.4, 1.14.8, 1.13.12); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

1. What is CVE-2023-6337? CVE-2023-6337 is a high-severity allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability in github.com/hashicorp/vault (go), affecting versions >= 1.15.0, < 1.15.4. It is fixed in 1.15.4, 1.14.8, 1.13.12. The application allocates resources such as memory, threads, or file descriptors based on untrusted input without enforcing a cap.
2. How severe is CVE-2023-6337? CVE-2023-6337 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). 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.
3. Which versions of github.com/hashicorp/vault are affected by CVE-2023-6337? github.com/hashicorp/vault (go) versions >= 1.15.0, < 1.15.4 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2023-6337? Yes. CVE-2023-6337 is fixed in 1.15.4, 1.14.8, 1.13.12. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2023-6337 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-6337 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
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2023-6337 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.
7. How do I fix CVE-2023-6337?
   • Upgrade github.com/hashicorp/vault to 1.15.4 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/hashicorp/vault to 1.14.8 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/hashicorp/vault to 1.13.12 or later

Other vulnerabilities in github.com/hashicorp/vault