Learn about CVE-2023-46737, a vulnerability in Cosign that could lead to a denial of service attack due to an attacker-controlled registry triggering an endless data attack. Find out how to mitigate this issue.
This article provides detailed information about CVE-2023-46737, a possible endless data attack vulnerability in Cosign that could impact users and the mitigation steps to address this issue.
Understanding CVE-2023-46737
CVE-2023-46737 is a vulnerability in cosign, a sigstore signing tool for OCI containers, that could lead to a denial of service due to an attacker-controlled registry potentially causing an endless data attack.
What is CVE-2023-46737?
Cosign is susceptible to a denial of service by an attacker-controlled registry. An attacker who controls a remote registry can return a high number of attestations and/or signatures to Cosign, causing it to enter a long loop resulting in an endless data attack.
The Impact of CVE-2023-46737
The vulnerability allows an attacker to compromise the registry or make a request to a registry they control. By returning a high number of attestations in the response to Cosign, the attacker can trigger an infinite loop, denying other users from completing their admission requests.
Technical Details of CVE-2023-46737
This section covers the specific details related to the vulnerability in Cosign.
Vulnerability Description
Cosign loops through all attestations fetched from the remote registry, leading to a denial of service attack. The attacker can trigger an infinite loop that prevents other users from verifying their data.
Affected Systems and Versions
The vulnerability affects sigstore's cosign versions prior to 2.2.1, making them vulnerable to the endless data attack.
Exploitation Mechanism
By controlling a remote registry, an attacker can return a high number of attestations to trigger an endless loop in Cosign, disrupting the verification process.
Mitigation and Prevention
Steps and measures to mitigate the impact of CVE-2023-46737 are essential to ensure system security and data integrity.
Immediate Steps to Take
Users are advised to upgrade to version 2.2.1 of Cosign, where the issue has been patched. Setting a limit to the number of attestations that Cosign will loop through can prevent the endless data attack.
Long-Term Security Practices
Regularly updating software and maintaining vigilance against potential threats are key to ensuring system security and resilience.
Patching and Updates
Regularly check for security updates and patches released by the software vendor to address known vulnerabilities and enhance system security.