CVE-2023-45821 [Medium] | Security Vulnerability in Hub

Artifact Hub is a web-based application that enables finding, installing, and publishing packages and configurations for CNCF projects. During a security audit of Artifact Hub's code base a security researcher identified a bug in which the `registryIsDockerHub` function was only checking that the registry domain had the `docker.io` suffix. Artifact Hub allows providing some Docker credentials that are used to increase the rate limit applied when interacting with the Docker Hub registry API to read publicly available content. Due to the incorrect check described above, it'd be possible to hijack those credentials by purchasing a domain which ends with `docker.io` and deploying a fake OCI registry on it. <https://artifacthub.io/> uses some credentials that only have permissions to read public content available in the Docker Hub. However, even though credentials for private repositories (disabled on `artifacthub.io`) are handled in a different way, other Artifact Hub deployments could have been using them for a different purpose. This issue has been resolved in version `1.16.0`. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-15	0.04%	0.21%	+0.17%
2	2025-11-21	0.07%	0.04%	-0.04%
3	2025-11-18	—	0.07%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-15

0.04%

0.21%

+0.17%

2025-11-21

0.07%

0.04%

-0.04%

2025-11-18

—

0.07%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
5.4	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. 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:L) Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump. Integrity (I:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:L) Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.	2.8	2.5	[email protected]
6.3	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. 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:L) Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump. 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	3.4	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

5.4

3.1

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:L): Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N): Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L): Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.

2.8

2.5

[email protected]

6.3

3.1

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:L): Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
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

3.4

[email protected]

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-45821

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
artifacthub	hub	< 1.16.0	cpe:2.3:a:artifacthub:hub::::::::

References for CVE-2023-45821

URL	Tags
https://artifacthub.io/packages/helm/artifact-hub/artifact-hub?modal=changelog&version=1.16.0	Product
https://github.com/artifacthub/hub/security/advisories/GHSA-g6pq-x539-7w4j	Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2023-45821 | Incorrect Docker Hub registry check in Artifact Hub

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-45821

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-45821

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-45821

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-45821

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-45821

References for CVE-2023-45821