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No exploitation reportedFix available

CVE-2023-29193

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

  • Published2023-04-14
  • Fixed in1.19.1
  • WeaknessCWE-209

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

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.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2023-04-1420:15CVE publishedNVD

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2023-29193?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2023-29193?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD · OSV
Authzed spicedb
BranchAffectedFixed in
1.19< 1.19.11.19.1

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

  1. Update Authzed spicedb to 1.19.1

Advisories and patches

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
none listed
PoC-in-GitHub

Sources

  • CISA-ADPSSVC decisionnone2025-02-06
  • OpenCVESSVC decisionnone—
  • CNACVSS 3.18.7read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 3.17.5read 2026-10-23
  • CNAweakness (CWE)CWE-209read 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score0.8 %2026-10-23
  • OSVaffected packages—

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Published
2023-04-14
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-29193?

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.

Is CVE-2023-29193 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2023-29193 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 0.8% on 2026-10-23, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-29193?

CVE-2023-29193 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.

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