CVE-2023-0437 | MongoDB client C Driver may infinitely loop when validating certain BSON input data

When calling bson_utf8_validate on some inputs a loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached may occur, i.e. an infinite loop. This issue affects All MongoDB C Driver versions prior to versions 1.25.0.

Published: 2024-01-12 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-0437 is rated Moderate Risk (43.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.10%). Core evidence: EPSS rose +1.05% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-0437

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.05% 1.10% +1.05%
2 2026-04-01 0.04% 0.05% +0.01%
3 2025-11-21 0.04%

Full EPSS history (15 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-0437

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
3.9 1.4 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
3.9 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-0437

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-0437

vendor priority summary link
alpine medium CVE-2023-0437: 1 source package rows (mongo-c-driver); 4 state rows across 4 repos (3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 4, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-0437
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-0437 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (libbson-xs-perl, mongo-c-driver), 7 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 7. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-0437
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-0437 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (mongodb), 12 status rows across 12 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 8, not-affected 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-0437

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-0437

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
mongodb c_driver < 1.25.0 cpe:2.3:a:mongodb:c_driver:*:*:*:*:*:mongodb:*:*

References for CVE-2023-0437

cvelogic Threat Intelligence