---
title: "CVE-2023-23916\n    | Ubuntu"
description: Ubuntu is an open source software operating system that runs from the
  desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things.
url: https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-23916?format=md
keywords: index, follow
---

# CVE-2023-23916

Publication date 15 February 2023

Last updated 26 August 2025

---

Ubuntu priority

**Medium**

[Why this priority?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#priority )

## Cvss 3 Severity Score

**6.5 · Medium**

[Score breakdown](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-23916?format=md#impact-score)

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## Description

An allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability
exists in curl <v7.88.0 based on the "chained" HTTP compression algorithms,
meaning that a server response can be compressed multiple times and
potentially with differentalgorithms. The number of acceptable "links" in
this "decompression chain" wascapped, but the cap was implemented on a
per-header basis allowing a maliciousserver to insert a virtually unlimited
number of compression steps simply byusing many headers. The use of such a
decompression chain could result in a "malloc bomb", making curl end up
spending enormous amounts of allocated heap memory, or trying to and
returning out of memory errors.

[Read the notes from the security team](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-23916?format=md#notes)

## Status

Show unmaintained releases

| Package | Ubuntu Release | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| curl | 23.04 lunar | Fixed 7.87.0-2ubuntu1 |
| 22.10 kinetic | Fixed 7.85.0-1ubuntu0.3 |
| 22.04 LTS jammy | Fixed 7.81.0-1ubuntu1.8 |
| 20.04 LTS focal | Fixed 7.68.0-1ubuntu2.16 |
| 18.04 LTS bionic | Fixed 7.58.0-2ubuntu3.23 |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not affected |

---

* [How can I get the fixes?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#security)
* [What do statuses mean?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#statuses)
* [Patch details](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-23916?format=md#patch-details)

## Notes

---

### [mdeslaur](https://launchpad.net/~mdeslaur)

introduced in 7.57.0

### Patch details

For informational purposes only. We recommend not to cherry-pick updates. [How can I get the fixes?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#security)

| Package | Patch details |
| --- | --- |
| curl | * Upstream:   [119fb18](https://github.com/curl/curl/commit/119fb187192a9ea13dc) |

## Severity score breakdown

CVSS version:
CVSS v3.0

**Base score**

6.5 · Medium

* Base metrics

  | Parameter | Value |
  | --- | --- |
  | Attack vector | Network |
  | Attack complexity | Low |
  | Privileges required | None |
  | User interaction | Required |
  | Scope | Unchanged |
  | Confidentiality impact | None |
  | Integrity impact | None |
  | Availability impact | High |
* Scores

  | Parameter | Value |
  | --- | --- |
  | Base score | 6.5 · Medium |
  | Exploitability score | - |
  | Impact score | - |

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

## References

* [MITRE](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2023-23916)
* [NVD](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-23916)
* [Launchpad](https://launchpad.net/bugs/cve/CVE-2023-23916)
* [Debian](https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-23916)

### Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)

+ [USN-5891-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-5891-1)
+ curl vulnerabilities
+ 27 February 2023

### Other references

* <https://curl.se/docs/CVE-2023-23916.html>
* <https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-23916>