GHSA-QVQG-6RP8-4P9H

github.com/ipfs/kubo affected by DOS Bitswap unbounded persistent memory leak

Workarounds

Use PNET, swarm filters or resource manager allows list to block untrusted connections.

Note that using the resource manager will disrupt both client and server features because the bitswap protocol is a message based protocol mixing requests and responses.

References

• GHSA-m974-xj4j-7qv5
• CVE-2023-25568

An attacker is able allocate arbitrarily many bytes in the Bitswap server by sending many WANT_BLOCK and or WANT_HAVE requests which are queued in an unbounded queue, with allocations that persist even if the connection is closed.

This affects users accepting or connecting untrusted connections such as by running in the public swarm and no pnet config.
Nodes that are not publicly reachable but connects to untrusted nodes are also vulnerable to the untrusted nodes being connected to since libp2p connections are blindly bidirectional.

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

GHSA-QVQG-6RP8-4P9H has a CVSS score of 5.3 (Medium). 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 (0.19.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Already deployed Kodem?

• 19feb15833c6f4d6e7f1e1b132efaae96d76481d boxo update in Kubo
• GHSA-m974-xj4j-7qv5 patches in boxo

1. What is GHSA-QVQG-6RP8-4P9H? GHSA-QVQG-6RP8-4P9H is a medium-severity uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in github.com/ipfs/kubo (go), affecting versions < 0.19.0. It is fixed in 0.19.0. Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service.
2. How severe is GHSA-QVQG-6RP8-4P9H? GHSA-QVQG-6RP8-4P9H has a CVSS score of 5.3 (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.
3. Which versions of github.com/ipfs/kubo are affected by GHSA-QVQG-6RP8-4P9H? github.com/ipfs/kubo (go) versions < 0.19.0 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for GHSA-QVQG-6RP8-4P9H? Yes. GHSA-QVQG-6RP8-4P9H is fixed in 0.19.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is GHSA-QVQG-6RP8-4P9H exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-QVQG-6RP8-4P9H 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 GHSA-QVQG-6RP8-4P9H 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 GHSA-QVQG-6RP8-4P9H? Upgrade github.com/ipfs/kubo to 0.19.0 or later.