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GHSA-8pgv-569h-w5rw

HighCVSS 7.5 / 10
Published Nov 12, 2023·Last modified Feb 4, 2026
Affected Components(0)

No affected components available

Description

Summary

The grpc Unary Server Interceptor opentelemetry-go-contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc/interceptor.go

// UnaryServerInterceptor returns a grpc.UnaryServerInterceptor suitable
// for use in a grpc.NewServer call.
func UnaryServerInterceptor(opts ...Option) grpc.UnaryServerInterceptor {

out of the box adds labels

  • net.peer.sock.addr
  • net.peer.sock.port

that have unbound cardinality. It leads to the server's potential memory exhaustion when many malicious requests are sent.

Details

An attacker can easily flood the peer address and port for requests.

PoC

Apply the attached patch to the example and run the client multiple times. Observe how each request will create a unique histogram and how the memory consumption increases during it.

Impact

In order to be affected, the program has to configure a metrics pipeline, use UnaryServerInterceptor, and does not filter any client IP address and ports via middleware or proxies, etc.

Others

It is similar to already reported vulnerabilities.

Workaround for affected versions

As a workaround to stop being affected, a view removing the attributes can be used.

The other possibility is to disable grpc metrics instrumentation by passing otelgrpc.WithMeterProvider option with noop.NewMeterProvider.

Solution provided by upgrading

In PR #4322, to be released with v0.46.0, the attributes were removed.

References

Risk Scores
Base Score
7.5

The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The impact is confined to the system where the vulnerability exists. There is a high impact on the availability of the system.

Threat Intelligence
6.9

Exploitation attempts have been detected. Elevated vigilance and prompt remediation are advised.

EPSS
1.59%

The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.

Exploit
Not available

We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.

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