🛡️ CVE-2023-29409 — go

🟡 CVSS 5.3 — Medium ✅ No Known Exploit CWE-400 NVD

5.3

CVSS Score

0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

Large RSA keys can cause high CPU usage in crypto/tls

Extremely large RSA keys in certificate chains can cause a client/server to expend significant CPU time verifying signatures.

With fix, the size of RSA keys transmitted during handshakes is restricted to <= 8192 bits.

Based on a survey of publicly trusted RSA keys, there are currently only three certificates in circulation with keys larger than this, and all three appear to be test certificates that are not actively deployed. It is possible there are larger keys in use in private PKIs, but we target the web PKI, so causing breakage here in the interests of increasing the default safety of users of crypto/tls seems reasonable.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs no privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity none, availability low.

Weakness class

CVE-2023-29409 is classified as CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption. A request can consume memory, CPU or storage without limit, exhausting capacity for everyone else.

Affected software

CVE-2023-29409 is recorded against 3 packages.

go
golang
stdlib

Timeline and source

Published on 2 August 2023 and last revised on 17 June 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. A vendor advisory or fix has been published. Record sourced from NVD.

References

go.dev
go.dev
groups.google.com
pkg.go.dev
security.gentoo.org
security.netapp.com
go.dev
go.dev
groups.google.com
pkg.go.dev
security.gentoo.org
security.netapp.com

CVE-2023-29409 on other distributions

Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:

Debian Ubuntu

Details

Severity MEDIUM

CVSS Score 5.3

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

CWE CWE-400

Public Exploit ✅ No

Source NVD

Published 2023-08-02

Updated 2026-08-12

Modified 2026-06-17

Fix URL https://go.dev/cl/515257

Affected Packages

Software	From version	Fixed in
go	—	—
golang	—	—
stdlib	—	—

References

Patch https://go.dev/cl/515257

Issue Tracking, Patch, Vendor Advisory https://go.dev/issue/61460

Mailing List, Vendor Advisory https://groups.google.com/g/golang-announce/c/X0b6CsSAaYI/m/Efv5DbZ9AwAJ

Patch, Vendor Advisory https://pkg.go.dev/vuln/GO-2023-1987

https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202311-09

https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230831-0010/

Patch https://go.dev/cl/515257

Issue Tracking, Patch, Vendor Advisory https://go.dev/issue/61460

Mailing List, Vendor Advisory https://groups.google.com/g/golang-announce/c/X0b6CsSAaYI/m/Efv5DbZ9AwAJ

Patch, Vendor Advisory https://pkg.go.dev/vuln/GO-2023-1987

https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202311-09

https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230831-0010/

🔗 NVD 🔗 Mitre ✅ Fix / Advisory

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