CVE-2023-33958 | Default `maxSignatureAttempts` in `notation verify` enables an endless data attack in notation

notation is a CLI tool to sign and verify OCI artifacts and container images. An attacker who has compromised a registry and added a high number of signatures to an artifact can cause denial of service of services on the machine, if a user runs notation verify command on the same machine. The problem has been fixed in the release v1.0.0-rc.6. Users should upgrade their notation packages to v1.0.0-rc.6 or above. Users unable to upgrade may restrict container registries to a set of secure and trusted container registries.

Published: 2023-06-06 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-33958 is rated Low Risk (28.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.07%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2023-33958

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 2025-11-21 0.33% 0.07% -0.26%
2 2025-11-18 0.07% 0.33% +0.26%
3 2025-04-15 — 0.07% —

Full EPSS history (8 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-33958

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.4 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/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:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 2.8 2.5 [email protected]
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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.
 2.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-33958

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-33958

GHSA-rvrx-rrwh-r9p6 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: go — Notation's default `maxSignatureAttempts` in `notation verify` enables an endless data attack

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-33958

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
notaryproject notation-go < 1.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:notaryproject:notation-go:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
notaryproject notation-go 1.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:notaryproject:notation-go:1.0.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
notaryproject notation-go 1.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:notaryproject:notation-go:1.0.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
notaryproject notation-go 1.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:notaryproject:notation-go:1.0.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
notaryproject notation-go 1.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:notaryproject:notation-go:1.0.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
notaryproject notation-go 1.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:notaryproject:notation-go:1.0.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-33958

cvelogic Threat Intelligence