CVE-2023-27483 | fieldpath's Paved.SetValue allows growing arrays up to arbitrary sizes in crossplane-runtime

crossplane-runtime is a set of go libraries used to build Kubernetes controllers in Crossplane and its related stacks. An out of memory panic vulnerability has been discovered in affected versions. Applications that use the `Paved` type's `SetValue` method with user provided input without proper validation might use excessive amounts of memory and cause an out of memory panic. In the fieldpath package, the Paved.SetValue method sets a value on the Paved object according to the provided path, without any validation. This allows setting values in slices at any provided index, which grows the target array up to the requested index, the index is currently capped at max uint32 (4294967295) given how indexes are parsed, but that is still an unnecessarily large value. If callers are not validating paths' indexes on their own, which most probably are not going to do, given that the input is parsed directly in the SetValue method, this could allow users to consume arbitrary amounts of memory. Applications that do not use the `Paved` type's `SetValue` method are not affected. This issue has been addressed in versions 0.16.1 and 0.19.2. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade can parse and validate the path before passing it to the `SetValue` method of the `Paved` type, constraining the index size as deemed appropriate.

Published: 2023-03-09 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-27483 is rated Moderate Risk (45.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.43%). 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-2023-27483

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 2026-04-19 0.93% 0.43% -0.50%
2 2026-03-27 0.80% 0.93% +0.13%
3 2026-03-25 — 0.80% —

Full EPSS history (20 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-27483

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.9 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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.
 2.2 3.6 [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-2023-27483

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-27483

GHSA-vfvj-3m3g-m532 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: go — fieldpath's Paved.SetValue allows growing arrays up to arbitrary sizes in crossplane-runtime

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-27483

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
crossplane crossplane-runtime >= 0.19.0, < 0.19.2 cpe:2.3:a:crossplane:crossplane-runtime:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
crossplane crossplane-runtime 0.16.0 cpe:2.3:a:crossplane:crossplane-runtime:0.16.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-27483

cvelogic Threat Intelligence