CVE-2023-33959
Verification bypass can cause users into verifying the wrong artifact
notation is a CLI tool to sign and verify OCI artifacts and container images. An attacker who has compromised a registry can cause users to verify the wrong artifact. The problem has been fixed in the release v1.0.0-rc.6. Users should upgrade their notation-go library to v1.0.0-rc.6 or above. Users unable to upgrade may restrict container registries to a set of secure and trusted container registries.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Verification bypass can cause users into verifying the wrong artifact
notation is a CLI tool to sign and verify OCI artifacts and container images. An attacker who has compromised a registry can cause users to verify the wrong artifact. The problem has been fixed in the release v1.0.0-rc.6. Users should upgrade their notation-go library to v1.0.0-rc.6 or above. Users unable to upgrade may restrict container registries to a set of secure and trusted container registries.
- Record
CVE-2023-33959- CVSS 3.1
- 8.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-347
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-1916
notation is a CLI tool to sign and verify OCI artifacts and container images. An attacker who has compromised a registry can cause users to verify the wrong artifact. The problem has been fixed in the release v1.0.0-rc.6. Users should upgrade their notation-go library to v1.0.0-rc.6 or above. Users unable to upgrade may restrict container registries to a set of secure and trusted container registries.
- Record
EUVD-2023-1916- CVSS 3.1
- 8.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-xhg5-42rf-296r
notation-go's verification bypass can cause users to verify the wrong artifact
Impact
An attacker who controls or compromises a registry can lead a user to verify the wrong artifact.
Patches
The problem has been fixed in the release v1.0.0-rc.6. Users should upgrade their notation-go library to v1.0.0-rc.6 or above.
Workarounds
User should use secure and trusted container registries.
Credits
The notation project would like to thank Adam Korczynski (@AdamKorcz) for responsibly disclosing the issue found during an security audit (facilitated by OSTIF and sponsored by CNCF) and Shiwei Zhang (@shizhMSFT), Pritesh Bandi (@priteshbandi) for root cause analysis.
- Record
GHSA-xhg5-42rf-296r- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-347
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
notation is a CLI tool to sign and verify OCI artifacts and container images. An attacker who has compromised a registry can cause users to verify the wrong artifact. The problem has been fixed in the release v1.0.0-rc.6. Users should upgrade their notation-go library to v1.0.0-rc.6 or above. Users unable to upgrade may restrict container registries to a set of secure and trusted container registries.
- Record
CVE-2023-33959- CVSS 3.1
- 8.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-347
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
Verification bypass can cause users into verifying the wrong artifact
notation is a CLI tool to sign and verify OCI artifacts and container images. An attacker who has compromised a registry can cause users to verify the wrong artifact. The problem has been fixed in the release v1.0.0-rc.6. Users should upgrade their notation-go library to v1.0.0-rc.6 or above. Users unable to upgrade may restrict container registries to a set of secure and trusted container registries.
- Record
CVE-2023-33959- CVSS 3.1
- 8.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-347
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-xhg5-42rf-296r
notation-go's verification bypass can cause users to verify the wrong artifact
Impact
An attacker who controls or compromises a registry can lead a user to verify the wrong artifact.
Patches
The problem has been fixed in the release v1.0.0-rc.6. Users should upgrade their notation-go library to v1.0.0-rc.6 or above.
Workarounds
User should use secure and trusted container registries.
Credits
The notation project would like to thank Adam Korczynski (@AdamKorcz) for responsibly disclosing the issue found during an security audit (facilitated by OSTIF and sponsored by CNCF) and Shiwei Zhang (@shizhMSFT), Pritesh Bandi (@priteshbandi) for root cause analysis.
- Record
GHSA-xhg5-42rf-296r- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-347
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGO-2023-1832 No score
Verification bypass in github.com/notaryproject/notation-go
An attacker who controls or compromises a registry can lead a user to verify the wrong artifact.
- Record
GO-2023-1832- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
github.com/notaryproject/notation-goGo |
before 1.0.0-rc.6 | 1.0.0-rc.6 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-33959 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.4) in Notaryproject Notation-go, published June 6, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.35%, the 29th percentile. Fixed in github.com/notaryproject/notation-go 1.0.0-rc.6.
References
github.com/notaryproject/notation-go/security/advisories/GHSA-xhg5-42rf-296r
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-33959