CVE-2023-48230 | Cap'n Proto WebSocket message can cause crash

Exp

Cap'n Proto is a data interchange format and capability-based RPC system. In versions 1.0 and 1.0.1, when using the KJ HTTP library with WebSocket compression enabled, a buffer underrun can be caused by a remote peer. The underrun always writes a constant value that is not attacker-controlled, likely resulting in a crash, enabling a remote denial-of-service attack. Most Cap'n Proto and KJ users are unlikely to have this functionality enabled and so unlikely to be affected. Maintainers suspect only the Cloudflare Workers Runtime is affected. If KJ HTTP is used with WebSocket compression enabled, a malicious peer may be able to cause a buffer underrun on a heap-allocated buffer. KJ HTTP is an optional library bundled with Cap'n Proto, but is not directly used by Cap'n Proto. WebSocket compression is disabled by default. It must be enabled via a setting passed to the KJ HTTP library via `HttpClientSettings` or `HttpServerSettings`. The bytes written out-of-bounds are always a specific constant 4-byte string `{ 0x00, 0x00, 0xFF, 0xFF }`. Because this string is not controlled by the attacker, maintainers believe it is unlikely that remote code execution is possible. However, it cannot be ruled out. This functionality first appeared in Cap'n Proto 1.0. Previous versions are not affected. This issue is fixed in Cap'n Proto 1.0.1.1.

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

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-48230 is rated High Exploit Risk (63.2/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.89%). Core evidence: 1 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-2023-48230

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-48230

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 4.15% 1.89% -2.27%
2 2025-11-21 3.33% 4.15% +0.82%
3 2025-11-18 3.33%

Full EPSS history (14 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-48230

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]
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
3.9 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-48230

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-48230

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2023-48230 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (capnproto), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-48230
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-48230 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (capnproto), 12 status rows across 12 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 10, ignored 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-48230

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-48230

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
capnproto capnproto 1.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:capnproto:capnproto:1.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
capnproto capnproto 1.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:capnproto:capnproto:1.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-48230

cvelogic Threat Intelligence