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CVE-2023-20902

Timing attack risk in Harbor

5.9 MediumFix available

A timing condition in Harbor 2.6.x and below, Harbor 2.7.2 and below,  Harbor 2.8.2 and below, and Harbor 1.10.17 and below allows an attacker with network access to create jobs/stop job tasks and retrieve job task information.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

Exploit likelihood

0.45%Up 0.4 points since Nov 9, 2023
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 5.9

Timing attack risk in Harbor

A timing condition in Harbor 2.6.x and below, Harbor 2.7.2 and below,  Harbor 2.8.2 and below, and Harbor 1.10.17 and below allows an attacker with network access to create jobs/stop job tasks and retrieve job task information.

Record
CVE-2023-20902
CVSS 3.1
5.9 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-2779 5.9

A timing condition in Harbor 2.6.x and below, Harbor 2.7.2 and below,  Harbor 2.8.2 and below, and Harbor 1.10.17 and below allows an attacker with network access to create jobs/stop job tasks and retrieve job task information.

Record
EUVD-2023-2779
CVSS 3.1
5.9 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-mq6f-5xh5-hgcf 5.9

Harbor timing attack risk

In the Harbor jobservice container, the comparison of secrets in the authenticator type is prone to timing attacks. The vulnerability occurs due to the following code: https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/blob/aaea068cceb4063ab89313d9785f2b40f35b0d63/src/jobservice/api/authenticator.go#L69-L69 To avoid this issue, constant time comparison should be used.

subtle.ConstantTimeCompare([]byte(expectedSecret), []byte(secret)) == 0

Impact

This attack might be possible theoretically, but no workable proof of concept is available, and access complexity is set at High. The jobservice exposes these APIs

Create a job task --- POST /api/v1/jobs    
Get job task information --- GET /api/v1/jobs/{job_id}
Stop job task ---  POST /api/v1/jobs/{job_id}
Get job log task ---  GET /api/v1/jobs/{job_id}/log
Get job execution --- GET /api/v1/jobs/{job_id}/executions
Get job stats ---  GET /api/v1/stats
Get job service configuration ---  GET /api/v1/config

It is used to create jobs/stop job tasks and retrieve job task information. If an attacker obtains the secrets, it is possible to retrieve the job information, create a job, or stop a job task.

The following versions of Harbor are involved: <=Harbor 2.8.2, <=Harbor 2.7.2, <= Harbor 2.6.x, <=Harbor 1.10.17

Patches

Harbor 2.8.3, Harbor 2.7.3, Harbor 1.10.18

Workarounds

Because the jobservice only exposes HTTP service to harbor-core containers, blocking any inbound traffic from the external network to the jobservice container can reduce the risk.

Credits

Thanks to Porcupiney Hairs for reporting this issue.

Record
GHSA-mq6f-5xh5-hgcf
CVSS 3.1
5.9 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Weakness
CWE-208, CWE-362
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 5.9

A timing condition in Harbor 2.6.x and below, Harbor 2.7.2 and below,  Harbor 2.8.2 and below, and Harbor 1.10.17 and below allows an attacker with network access to create jobs/stop job tasks and retrieve job task information.

Record
CVE-2023-20902
CVSS 3.1
5.9 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CVSS 3.1
6.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
Weakness
CWE-362
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 5.9

Timing attack risk in Harbor

A timing condition in Harbor 2.6.x and below, Harbor 2.7.2 and below,  Harbor 2.8.2 and below, and Harbor 1.10.17 and below allows an attacker with network access to create jobs/stop job tasks and retrieve job task information.

Record
CVE-2023-20902
CVSS 3.1
5.9 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-mq6f-5xh5-hgcf 5.9

Harbor timing attack risk

In the Harbor jobservice container, the comparison of secrets in the authenticator type is prone to timing attacks. The vulnerability occurs due to the following code: https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/blob/aaea068cceb4063ab89313d9785f2b40f35b0d63/src/jobservice/api/authenticator.go#L69-L69 To avoid this issue, constant time comparison should be used.

subtle.ConstantTimeCompare([]byte(expectedSecret), []byte(secret)) == 0

Impact

This attack might be possible theoretically, but no workable proof of concept is available, and access complexity is set at High. The jobservice exposes these APIs

Create a job task --- POST /api/v1/jobs    
Get job task information --- GET /api/v1/jobs/{job_id}
Stop job task ---  POST /api/v1/jobs/{job_id}
Get job log task ---  GET /api/v1/jobs/{job_id}/log
Get job execution --- GET /api/v1/jobs/{job_id}/executions
Get job stats ---  GET /api/v1/stats
Get job service configuration ---  GET /api/v1/config

It is used to create jobs/stop job tasks and retrieve job task information. If an attacker obtains the secrets, it is possible to retrieve the job information, create a job, or stop a job task.

The following versions of Harbor are involved: <=Harbor 2.8.2, <=Harbor 2.7.2, <= Harbor 2.6.x, <=Harbor 1.10.17

Patches

Harbor 2.8.3, Harbor 2.7.3, Harbor 1.10.18

Workarounds

Because the jobservice only exposes HTTP service to harbor-core containers, blocking any inbound traffic from the external network to the jobservice container can reduce the risk.

Credits

Thanks to Porcupiney Hairs for reporting this issue.

Record
GHSA-mq6f-5xh5-hgcf
CVSS 3.1
5.9 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Weakness
CWE-208, CWE-362
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVBIT-harbor-2023-20902 No score

Timing attack risk in Harbor

A timing condition in Harbor 2.6.x and below, Harbor 2.7.2 and below,  Harbor 2.8.2 and below, and Harbor 1.10.17 and below allows an attacker with network access to create jobs/stop job tasks and retrieve job task information.

Record
BIT-harbor-2023-20902
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGO-2023-2109 No score

Harbor timing attack risk in github.com/goharbor/harbor

Harbor timing attack risk in github.com/goharbor/harbor

Record
GO-2023-2109
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
github.com/goharbor/harbor
Go
before 1.10.18
1.10.18
github.com/goharbor/harbor
Go
2.0.0 up to 2.7.3
2.7.3
github.com/goharbor/harbor
Go
2.8.0 up to 2.8.3
2.8.3
harbor
Bitnami
before 1.10.17, 2.6.0 up to 2.6.5, 2.7.0 up to 2.7.3, 2.8.0 up to 2.8.3
1.10.172.6.52.7.32.8.3
github.com/goharbor/harbor
Go
before 1.10.18, 2.0.0+incompatible up to 2.7.3+incompatible, 2.8.0+incompatible up to 2.8.3+incompatible
1.10.182.7.3+incompatible2.8.3+incompatible

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2023-20902 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.9) in Linuxfoundation Harbor, published October 10, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.45%, the 39th percentile. Fixed in github.com/goharbor/harbor 1.10.18.

References

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