CVE-2023-46129

7.5 HIGH 0.4% exploit odds Fix listed

What it is

NATS.io is a high performance open source pub-sub distributed communication technology, built for the cloud, on-premise, IoT, and edge computing. The cryptographic key handling library, nkeys, recently gained support for encryption, not just for signing/authentication. This is used in nats-server 2.10 (Sep 2023) and newer for authentication callouts. In nkeys versions 0.4.0 through 0.4.5, corresponding with NATS server versions 2.10.0 through 2.10.3, the nkeys library's `xkeys` encryption handling logic mistakenly passed an array by value into an internal function, where the function mutated that buffer to populate the encryption key to use. As a result, all encryption was actually to an all-zeros key. This affects encryption only, not signing. FIXME: FILL IN IMPACT ON NATS-SERVER AUTH CALLOUT SECURITY. nkeys Go library 0.4.6, corresponding with NATS Server 2.10.4, has a patch for this issue. No known workarounds are available. For any application handling auth callouts in Go, if using the nkeys library, update the dependency, recompile and deploy that in lockstep.

At a glance

Exploitability: Can be exploited over the network without logging in. High risk of data exposure.
Exploit odds: 0.4% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).
Fix: A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

2023-10-31 00:15 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2026-06-17 06:30 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
Exploit odds: 0.4% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
Severity: 7.5 HIGH (CVSS).
Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published: 2023-10-31 00:15 UTC
Last modified: 2026-06-17 06:30 UTC
Exploit probability: 0.4% · EPSS, next 30 days
Weakness: CWE-321
Record status: Modified

Affected

Linuxfoundation nats-server < 2.10.4
Nats Nkeys < 0.4.6

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 7.5

Attack vector: Network
Complexity: Low
Privileges needed: None
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Raw vector

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

Is it in your code?

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Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2023-46129.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2023-46129. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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Fix and advisories

References

NVD record · CVE.org record