CVE-2023-35933 | OpenFGA denial of service die to circular relationship

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OPenFGA is an open source authorization/permission engine built for developers. OpenFGA versions v1.1.0 and prior are vulnerable to a DoS attack when Check and ListObjects calls are executed against authorization models that contain circular relationship definitions. Users are affected by this vulnerability if they are using OpenFGA v1.1.0 or earlier, and if you are executing `Check` or `ListObjects` calls against a vulnerable authorization model. Users are advised to upgrade to version 1.1.1. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability. Users that do not have circular relationships in their models are not affected.

Published: 2023-06-26 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-35933 is rated Exploit Available (59.2/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.37%). Core evidence: 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2023-35933

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-35933

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 2026-03-21 0.30% 0.37% +0.07%
2 2026-03-04 0.23% 0.30% +0.07%
3 2025-11-21 0.23%

Full EPSS history (11 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-35933

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-2023-35933

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-35933

GHSA-hr9r-8phq-5x8j · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: go — OpenFGA vulnerable to denial of service due to circular relationship

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-35933

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
openfga openfga < 1.1.1 cpe:2.3:a:openfga:openfga:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-35933

cvelogic Threat Intelligence