CVE-2023-6337
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 · uneditedHashiCorp Vault and Vault Enterprise 1.12.0 and newer are vulnerable to a denial of service through memory exhaustion of the host when handling large unauthenticated and authenticated HTTP requests from a client. Vault will attempt to map the request to memory, resulting in the exhaustion of available memory on the host, which may cause Vault to crash. Fixed in Vault 1.15.4, 1.14.8, 1.13.12.
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 · high confidenceVault versions 1.12.0 and newer have a memory exhaustion vulnerability where large HTTP requests (both authenticated and unauthenticated) cause excessive memory consumption as Vault attempts to map the request to memory, potentially crashing the service.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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<= 1.12.0>= 1.13.0, < 1.13.12>= 1.14.0, < 1.14.8>= 1.15.0, < 1.15.4CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Vault versionRun `vault status` or `vault --version` to obtain the installed Vault version. For Vault Enterprise, also check the `VAULT_VERSION` environment variable or the version displayed in the UI login page.Affected if The installed version is <= 1.12.0, >= 1.13.0 and < 1.13.12, >= 1.14.0 and < 1.14.8, or >= 1.15.0 and < 1.15.4
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Review Vault configuration for request size limitsExamine the Vault configuration file (usually at `/etc/vault/config.hcl` or `/etc/vault/vault.json`) for the `http_max_request_size` setting. Also run `vault read sys/config/reload/status` if the API is accessible.Affected if The `http_max_request_size` setting is absent, set to a very high value (e.g., above 32MB), or not configured at all, leaving the default unlimited behavior.
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Check listener configuration for max_request_sizeInspect the listener block in the Vault configuration file for any `max_request_size` or `max_request_body_size` parameters under the http listener section.Affected if No explicit max_request_size limit is defined in the listener configuration, allowing arbitrary request sizes to trigger memory exhaustion.
A user is affected if their Vault version falls within any of the vulnerable ranges and no http_max_request_size limit is configured to restrict large HTTP request payloads.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped1.13.121.14.81.15.4
Upgrade to Vault 1.15.4, 1.14.8, or 1.13.12. Alternatively, implement request size limits or rate limiting at the load balancer or Vault layer to restrict large request payloads.
Vault 1.15.4 (or 1.14.8 or 1.13.12 depending on your current release line)
- 1. Identify the current Vault version by running `vault version`
- 2. Review HashiCorp Vault upgrade documentation and release notes for the target version to understand any migration requirements
- 3. Ensure you have a proper backup of Vault data and configuration
- 4. Stop the Vault service
- 5. Upgrade Vault to version 1.15.4, 1.14.8, or 1.13.12 (choose the appropriate version for your release line)
- 6. Start the Vault service
- 7. Verify the upgrade was successful by running `vault version` and confirming the new version is running
- 8. Test critical Vault operations to ensure normal functionality
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,648.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-6337 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-6337 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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