Summary
OpenSearch uncontrolled resource consumption
Mitigation
Versions 1.3.14 and 2.11.0 contain a fix for this issue.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please contact AWS/Amazon Security via our issue reporting page (https://aws.amazon.com/security/vulnerability-reporting/) or directly via email to [email protected]. Please do not create a public GitHub issue.
Impact
An issue has been identified with how OpenSearch handled incoming requests on the HTTP layer. An unauthenticated user could force an OpenSearch node to exit with an OutOfMemory error by sending a moderate number of malformed HTTP requests.
The issue was identified by Elastic Engineering and corresponds to security advisory ESA-2023-13 (CVE-2023-31418).
Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service. Typical impact: denial of service.
GHSA-8WX3-324G-W4QQ 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 (1.3.14.0, 2.11.0.0); 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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See it in your environmentNew to Kodem? Get a demo →Remediation advice
org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security to 1.3.14.0 or later; org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security to 2.11.0.0 or later
Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is GHSA-8WX3-324G-W4QQ? GHSA-8WX3-324G-W4QQ is a high-severity uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security (maven), affecting versions < 1.3.14.0. It is fixed in 1.3.14.0, 2.11.0.0. Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service.
- How severe is GHSA-8WX3-324G-W4QQ? GHSA-8WX3-324G-W4QQ 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.
- Which versions of org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security are affected by GHSA-8WX3-324G-W4QQ? org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-security (maven) versions < 1.3.14.0 is affected.
- Is there a fix for GHSA-8WX3-324G-W4QQ? Yes. GHSA-8WX3-324G-W4QQ is fixed in 1.3.14.0, 2.11.0.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is GHSA-8WX3-324G-W4QQ exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-8WX3-324G-W4QQ 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 GHSA-8WX3-324G-W4QQ 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 GHSA-8WX3-324G-W4QQ?
- Upgrade
org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-securityto 1.3.14.0 or later - Upgrade
org.opensearch.plugin:opensearch-securityto 2.11.0.0 or later
- Upgrade