---
title: "CVE-2023-46129\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-2023-46129?format=md
keywords: index, follow
---

# CVE-2023-46129

Publication date 31 October 2023

Last updated 4 August 2025

---

Ubuntu priority

**Medium**

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

## Cvss 3 Severity Score

**7.5 · High**

[Score breakdown](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-46129?format=md#impact-score)

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## Description

NATS.io is a high performance open source pub-sub distributed communication
technology, built for the cloud, on-premise, IoT, and edge computing. The
cryptographic key handling library, nkeys, recently gained support for
encryption, not just for signing/authentication. This is used in
nats-server 2.10 (Sep 2023) and newer for authentication callouts. In nkeys
versions 0.4.0 through 0.4.5, corresponding with NATS server versions
2.10.0 through 2.10.3, the nkeys library's `xkeys` encryption handling
logic mistakenly passed an array by value into an internal function, where
the function mutated that buffer to populate the encryption key to use. As
a result, all encryption was actually to an all-zeros key. This affects
encryption only, not signing.
FIXME: FILL IN IMPACT ON NATS-SERVER AUTH CALLOUT SECURITY. nkeys Go
library 0.4.6, corresponding with NATS Server 2.10.4, has a patch for this
issue. No known workarounds are available. For any application handling
auth callouts in Go, if using the nkeys library, update the dependency,
recompile and deploy that in lockstep.

## Status

Show unmaintained releases

| Package | Ubuntu Release | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| golang-github-nats-io-nkeys | 26.04 LTS resolute | Not affected |
| 25.10 questing | Not affected |
| 25.04 plucky | Not affected |
| 24.10 oracular | Not affected |
| 24.04 LTS noble | Not affected |
| 23.10 mantic | Ignored end of life, was needs-triage |
| 23.04 lunar | Ignored end of life, was needs-triage |
| 22.04 LTS jammy | Vulnerable |
| 20.04 LTS focal | Vulnerable |
| 18.04 LTS bionic | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| nats-server | 26.04 LTS resolute | Not affected |
| 25.10 questing | Not affected |
| 25.04 plucky | Not affected |
| 24.10 oracular | Not affected |
| 24.04 LTS noble | Not affected |
| 23.10 mantic | Ignored end of life, was needs-triage |
| 23.04 lunar | Ignored end of life, was needs-triage |
| 22.04 LTS jammy | Not in release |
| 20.04 LTS focal | Not in release |
| 18.04 LTS bionic | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |

---

* [How can I get the fixes?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#security)
* [What do statuses mean?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#statuses)

## Severity score breakdown

CVSS version:
CVSS v3.0

**Base score**

7.5 · High

* Base metrics

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

  | Parameter | Value |
  | --- | --- |
  | Base score | 7.5 · High |
  | Exploitability score | - |
  | Impact score | - |

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

## References

* [MITRE](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2023-46129)
* [NVD](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-46129)
* [Launchpad](https://launchpad.net/bugs/cve/CVE-2023-46129)
* [Debian](https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-46129)

### Other references

* <https://advisories.nats.io/CVE/secnote-2023-02.txt>
* <https://github.com/nats-io/nkeys/security/advisories/GHSA-mr45-rx8q-wcm9>
* <https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-46129>