What is GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9?

GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 is a high-severity uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap (go), affecting versions < 0.12.0. It is fixed in 0.12.0. Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service.

How severe is GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9?

GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 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 github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap are affected by GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9?

github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap (go) versions < 0.12.0 is affected.

Is there a fix for GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9?

Yes. GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 is fixed in 0.12.0. Upgrade to this version or later.

Is GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 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.

What actually determines whether GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 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-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9?

Upgrade github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap to 0.12.0 or later.

GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 in github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap

Q: How severe is GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9?

GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 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.

Q: Which versions of github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap are affected by GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9?

github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap (go) versions < 0.12.0 is affected.

Q: Is there a fix for GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9?

Yes. GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 is fixed in 0.12.0. Upgrade to this version or later.

Q: Is GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 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.

Q: What actually determines whether GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 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.

Q: How do I fix GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9?

Upgrade github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap to 0.12.0 or later.

Summary

github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap vulnerable to DOS unbounded persistent memory leak

This package has been moved to github.com/ipfs/boxo/bitswap, this vulnerability is tracked there: https://github.com/ipfs/boxo/security/advisories/GHSA-m974-xj4j-7qv5 (CVE-2023-25568)

Vulnerable symbols

>= v0.9.0; < v0.12.0
- github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap/server/internal/decision.(*Engine).MessageReceived
- github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap/server/internal/decision.(*Engine).NotifyNewBlocks
- github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap/server/internal/decision.(*Engine).findOrCreate
- github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap/server/internal/decision.(*Engine).PeerConnected
v0.8.0
- github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap/internal/decision.(*Engine).MessageReceived
- github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap/internal/decision.(*Engine).NotifyNewBlocks
- github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap/internal/decision.(*Engine).findOrCreate
- github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap/internal/decision.(*Engine).PeerConnected
< v0.8.0
- github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap/internal/decision.(*Engine).MessageReceived
- github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap/internal/decision.(*Engine).receiveBlocksFrom
- github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap/internal/decision.(*Engine).findOrCreate
- github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap/internal/decision.(*Engine).PeerConnected

Workarounds

If you are using the stubs at github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap and not taking advantage of the features provided by the server, refactoring your code to use the new split API will allows you to run in a client-only mode using: github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap/client.

Impact

Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service. Typical impact: denial of service.

GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 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 (0.12.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Affected versions

github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap (< 0.12.0)

Security releases

github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap → 0.12.0 (go)

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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Remediation advice

This is a two step process:

Apply one of:
- (recommended) upgrade from github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap to github.com/ipfs/boxo/bitswap.
- If you are still using github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap and cannot upgrade to boxo, you can upgrade to github.com/ipfs/[email protected], this will replace the go-bitswap implementation by stubs which points to boxo.
Open https://github.com/ipfs/boxo/security/advisories/GHSA-m974-xj4j-7qv5 and then follow boxo's remediation section.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9? GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 is a high-severity uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap (go), affecting versions < 0.12.0. It is fixed in 0.12.0. Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service.
How severe is GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9? GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 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 github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap are affected by GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9? github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap (go) versions < 0.12.0 is affected.
Is there a fix for GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9? Yes. GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 is fixed in 0.12.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
Is GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 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-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9 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-Q3J6-22WF-3JH9? Upgrade github.com/ipfs/go-bitswap to 0.12.0 or later.