dbcve.org
SpicedbApplication · Authzed

CVE-2023-29193

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.19.1 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
SpiceDB is an open source, Google Zanzibar-inspired, database system for creating and managing security-critical application permissions. The `spicedb serve` command contains a flag named `--grpc-preshared-key` which is used to protect the gRPC API from being accessed by unauthorized requests. The values of this flag are to be considered sensitive, secret data. The `/debug/pprof/cmdline` endpoint served by the metrics service (defaulting running on port `9090`) reveals the command-line flags provided for debugging purposes. If a password is set via the `--grpc-preshared-key` then the key is revealed by this endpoint along with any other flags provided to the SpiceDB binary. This issue has been fixed in version 1.19.1. ### Impact All deployments abiding by the recommended best practices for production usage are **NOT affected**: - Authzed's SpiceDB Serverless - Authzed's SpiceDB Dedicated - SpiceDB Operator Users configuring SpiceDB via environment variables are **NOT affected**. Users **MAY be affected** if they expose their metrics port to an untrusted network and are configuring `--grpc-preshared-key` via command-line flag. ### Patches TODO ### Workarounds To workaround this issue you can do one of the following: - Configure the preshared key via an environment variable (e.g. `SPICEDB_GRPC_PRESHARED_KEY=yoursecret spicedb serve`) - Reconfigure the `--metrics-addr` flag to bind to a trusted network (e.g. `--metrics-addr=localhost:9090`) - Disable the metrics service via the flag (e.g. `--metrics-enabled=false`) - Adopt one of the recommended deployment models: [Authzed's managed services](https://authzed.com/pricing) or the [SpiceDB Operator](https://github.com/authzed/spicedb-operator) ### References - [GitHub Security Advisory issued for SpiceDB](https://github.com/authzed/spicedb/security/advisories/GHSA-cjr9-mr35-7xh6) - [Go issue #22085](https://github.com/golang/go/issues/22085) for documenting the risks of exposing pprof to the internet - [Go issue #42834](https://github.com/golang/go/issues/42834) discusses preventing pprof registration to the default serve mux - [semgrep rule go.lang.security.audit.net.pprof.pprof-debug-exposure](https://semgrep.dev/r?q=go.lang.security.audit.net.pprof) checks for a variation of this issue ### Credit We'd like to thank Amit Laish, a security researcher at GE Vernova for responsibly disclosing this vulnerability.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
SpicedbApplication
Affected:< 1.19.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.19.1 or later
Fixed in 1.19.1
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

1.19.1

  1. Upgrade SpiceDB to version 1.19.1 or later by stopping the current SpiceDB instance and deploying the new version
  2. If upgrading is not immediately possible, apply one of the workarounds:
  3. 1. Configure the preshared key via environment variable instead of command-line flag: SPICEDB_GRPC_PRESHARED_KEY=yoursecret spicedb serve
  4. 2. Bind the metrics port to localhost only: --metrics-addr=localhost:9090
  5. 3. Disable the metrics service: --metrics-enabled=false
  6. After applying the fix or workaround, verify the /debug/pprof/cmdline endpoint no longer exposes sensitive flags

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,250. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-29193 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-29193 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data