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NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

CVE-2023-48230: Cap'n Proto WebSocket message can cause crash

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Plan (action score 40/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.8% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 79.6% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: capnproto (Debian:13) 1.0.1-3.
  • Severity is disputed: the assigning authority (CNA) scores it 5.9, NVD 9.8.

Add it to your regular patch cycle. Upgrade to capnproto (Debian:13) 1.0.1-3 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

Cap'n Proto is a data interchange format and capability-based RPC system. In versions 1.0 and 1.0.1, when using the KJ HTTP library with WebSocket compression enabled, a buffer underrun can be caused by a remote peer. The underrun always writes a constant value that is not attacker-controlled, likely resulting in a crash, enabling a remote denial-of-service attack. Most Cap'n Proto and KJ users are unlikely to have this functionality enabled and so unlikely to be affected. Maintainers suspect only the Cloudflare Workers Runtime is affected. If KJ HTTP is used with WebSocket compression enabled, a malicious peer may be able to cause a buffer underrun on a heap-allocated buffer. KJ HTTP is an optional library bundled with Cap'n Proto, but is not directly used by Cap'n Proto. WebSocket compression is disabled by default. It must be enabled via a setting passed to the KJ HTTP library via `HttpClientSettings` or `HttpServerSettings`. The bytes written out-of-bounds are always a specific constant 4-byte string `{ 0x00, 0x00, 0xFF, 0xFF }`. Because this string is not controlled by the attacker, maintainers believe it is unlikely that remote code execution is possible. However, it cannot be ruled out. This functionality first appeared in Cap'n Proto 1.0. Previous versions are not affected. This issue is fixed in Cap'n Proto 1.0.1.1.

CriticalCVSS 9.8 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Nov 21, 2023
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
1.8% · 79th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

40

Plan

Add it to your regular patch cycle.

CVSS
39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
1 / 30 · 1.8%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
9.8
CNA · GitHub_M
5.9
3.9 point gap

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2023-48230

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
capnprotocapnproto

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • capnproto capnproto1.0.0
  • capnproto capnproto1.0.1

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • capnproto capnproto

    • >= 1.0, < 1.0.1.1affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:13capnprotobefore 1.0.1-31.0.1-3

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2015-2311Integer underflow in Sandstorm Cap'n Proto before 0.4.1.1 and 0.5.x before 0.5.1.1 might allow remote peers to cause a denial of service or
    40Plan
  • CVE-2015-2310Integer overflow in layout.c++ in Sandstorm Cap'n Proto before 0.4.1.1 and 0.5.x before 0.5.1.1 allows remote peers to cause a denial of ser
    37Monitor
  • CVE-2015-2313Sandstorm Cap'n Proto before 0.4.1.1 and 0.5.x before 0.5.1.2, when an application invokes the totalSize method on an object reader, allows
    31Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2015-2312Aug 9, 2017 · Sandstorm Cap'n Proto before 0.4.1.1 and 0.5.x before 0.5.1.1 allows remote peers to cause a denial of service (CPU and possibly general res
    31Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2022-46149Nov 30, 2022 · Cap'n Proto vulnerable to out-of-bounds read due to logic error handling list-of-list.
    21Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-32239Mar 12, 2026 · Cap'n Proto has an integer overflow in KJ-HTTP
    25Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
debian:capnproto1.0.1-3 · Debian:13Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (1 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records