CVE-2023-29195
Vitess VTAdmin users that can create shards can deny access to other functions
Vitess is a database clustering system for horizontal scaling of MySQL through generalized sharding. Prior to version 16.0.2, users can either intentionally or inadvertently create a shard containing / characters from VTAdmin such that from that point on, anyone who tries to create a new shard from VTAdmin will receive an error. Attempting to view the keyspace(s) will also no longer work. Creating a shard using vtctldclient does not have the same problem because the CLI validates the input correctly. Version 16.0.2, corresponding to version 0.16.2 of the go module, contains a patch for this issue. Some workarounds are available. Always use vtctldclient to create shards, instead of using VTAdmin; disable creating shards from VTAdmin using RBAC; and/or delete the topology record for the offending shard using the client for your topology server.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- High
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Low
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
4.1
Vitess VTAdmin users that can create shards can deny access to other functions
Vitess is a database clustering system for horizontal scaling of MySQL through generalized sharding. Prior to version 16.0.2, users can either intentionally or inadvertently create a shard containing / characters from VTAdmin such that from that point on, anyone who tries to create a new shard from VTAdmin will receive an error. Attempting to view the keyspace(s) will also no longer work. Creating a shard using vtctldclient does not have the same problem because the CLI validates the input correctly. Version 16.0.2, corresponding to version 0.16.2 of the go module, contains a patch for this issue. Some workarounds are available. Always use vtctldclient to create shards, instead of using VTAdmin; disable creating shards from VTAdmin using RBAC; and/or delete the topology record for the offending shard using the client for your topology server.
- Record
CVE-2023-29195- CVSS 3.1
- 4.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-20, CWE-703
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-1601
4.1
Vitess is a database clustering system for horizontal scaling of MySQL through generalized sharding. Prior to version 16.0.2, users can either intentionally or inadvertently create a shard containing / characters from VTAdmin such that from that point on, anyone who tries to create a new shard from VTAdmin will receive an error. Attempting to view the keyspace(s) will also no longer work. Creating a shard using vtctldclient does not have the same problem because the CLI validates the input correctly. Version 16.0.2, corresponding to version 0.16.2 of the go module, contains a patch for this issue. Some workarounds are available. Always use vtctldclient to create shards, instead of using VTAdmin; disable creating shards from VTAdmin using RBAC; and/or delete the topology record for the offending shard using the client for your topology server.
- Record
EUVD-2023-1601- CVSS 3.1
- 4.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-pqj7-jx24-wj7w
4.1
VTAdmin users that can create shards can deny access to other functions
Impact
Users can either intentionally or inadvertently create a shard containing / characters from VTAdmin such that from that point on, anyone who tries to create a new shard from VTAdmin will receive an error.
Attempting to view the keyspace(s) will also no longer work.
Creating a shard using vtctldclient does not have the same problem because the CLI validates the input correctly.
Patches
v16.0.2, corresponding to 0.16.2 on pkg.go.dev
Workarounds
- Always use
vtctldclientto create shards, instead of using VTAdmin - Disable creating shards from VTAdmin using RBAC
- Delete the topology record for the offending shard using the client for your topology server. For example, if you created a shard called
a/bin keyspacecommerce, and you are running etcd, it can be deleted by doing something like
% etcdctl --endpoints "http://${ETCD_SERVER}" del /vitess/global/keyspaces/commerce/shards/a/b/Shard
References
https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/issues/12842
Found during a security audit sponsored by the CNCF and facilitated by OSTIF.
- Record
GHSA-pqj7-jx24-wj7w- CVSS 3.1
- 4.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-20, CWE-703
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
4.1
Vitess is a database clustering system for horizontal scaling of MySQL through generalized sharding. Prior to version 16.0.2, users can either intentionally or inadvertently create a shard containing / characters from VTAdmin such that from that point on, anyone who tries to create a new shard from VTAdmin will receive an error. Attempting to view the keyspace(s) will also no longer work. Creating a shard using vtctldclient does not have the same problem because the CLI validates the input correctly. Version 16.0.2, corresponding to version 0.16.2 of the go module, contains a patch for this issue. Some workarounds are available. Always use vtctldclient to create shards, instead of using VTAdmin; disable creating shards from VTAdmin using RBAC; and/or delete the topology record for the offending shard using the client for your topology server.
- Record
CVE-2023-29195- CVSS 3.1
- 4.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L - CVSS 3.1
- 4.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-20, CWE-703
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVAZL-26696
4.3
CVE-2023-29195 affecting package vitess for versions less than 16.0.2-1
Vitess is a database clustering system for horizontal scaling of MySQL through generalized sharding. Prior to version 16.0.2, users can either intentionally or inadvertently create a shard containing / characters from VTAdmin such that from that point on, anyone who tries to create a new shard from VTAdmin will receive an error. Attempting to view the keyspace(s) will also no longer work. Creating a shard using vtctldclient does not have the same problem because the CLI validates the input correctly. Version 16.0.2, corresponding to version 0.16.2 of the go module, contains a patch for this issue. Some workarounds are available. Always use vtctldclient to create shards, instead of using VTAdmin; disable creating shards from VTAdmin using RBAC; and/or delete the topology record for the offending shard using the client for your topology server.
- Record
AZL-26696- CVSS 3.1
- 4.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
4.1
Vitess VTAdmin users that can create shards can deny access to other functions
Vitess is a database clustering system for horizontal scaling of MySQL through generalized sharding. Prior to version 16.0.2, users can either intentionally or inadvertently create a shard containing / characters from VTAdmin such that from that point on, anyone who tries to create a new shard from VTAdmin will receive an error. Attempting to view the keyspace(s) will also no longer work. Creating a shard using vtctldclient does not have the same problem because the CLI validates the input correctly. Version 16.0.2, corresponding to version 0.16.2 of the go module, contains a patch for this issue. Some workarounds are available. Always use vtctldclient to create shards, instead of using VTAdmin; disable creating shards from VTAdmin using RBAC; and/or delete the topology record for the offending shard using the client for your topology server.
- Record
CVE-2023-29195- CVSS 3.1
- 4.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-20, CWE-703
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-pqj7-jx24-wj7w
4.1
VTAdmin users that can create shards can deny access to other functions
Impact
Users can either intentionally or inadvertently create a shard containing / characters from VTAdmin such that from that point on, anyone who tries to create a new shard from VTAdmin will receive an error.
Attempting to view the keyspace(s) will also no longer work.
Creating a shard using vtctldclient does not have the same problem because the CLI validates the input correctly.
Patches
v16.0.2, corresponding to 0.16.2 on pkg.go.dev
Workarounds
- Always use
vtctldclientto create shards, instead of using VTAdmin - Disable creating shards from VTAdmin using RBAC
- Delete the topology record for the offending shard using the client for your topology server. For example, if you created a shard called
a/bin keyspacecommerce, and you are running etcd, it can be deleted by doing something like
% etcdctl --endpoints "http://${ETCD_SERVER}" del /vitess/global/keyspaces/commerce/shards/a/b/Shard
References
https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/issues/12842
Found during a security audit sponsored by the CNCF and facilitated by OSTIF.
- Record
GHSA-pqj7-jx24-wj7w- CVSS 3.1
- 4.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-20, CWE-703
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
vitess.io/vitessGo |
before 0.16.2 | 0.16.2 |
vitessAzure Linux:2 |
before 16.0.2-1 | 16.0.2-1 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-29195 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 4.1) in Linuxfoundation Vitess, published May 11, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.98%, the 62nd percentile. Fixed in vitess.io/vitess 0.16.2.
References
github.com/vitessio/vitess/security/advisories/GHSA-pqj7-jx24-wj7w
github.com/vitessio/vitess/issues/12842
github.com/vitessio/vitess/pull/12843
github.com/vitessio/vitess/commit/9dcbd7de3180f47e94f54989fb5c66daea00c920
github.com/vitessio/vitess/releases/tag/v16.0.2
pkg.go.dev/vitess.io/[email protected]