CVE-2023-6245

Infinite decoding loop through specially crafted payload

HIGH
7.5
CVSS Score
Published: December 8, 2023 at 02:26 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 06:50 AM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsCandidCandid

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Severity
HIGH7.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 1%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

The Candid library causes a Denial of Service while parsing a specially crafted payload with 'empty' data type. For example, if the payload is `record { * ; empty }` and the canister interface expects `record { * }` then the Rust candid decoder treats empty as an extra field required by the type. The problem with the type empty is that the candid Rust library wrongly categorizes empty as a recoverable error when skipping the field and thus causing an infinite decoding loop. Canisters using affected versions of candid are exposed to denial of service by causing the decoding to run indefinitely until the canister traps due to reaching maximum instruction limit per execution round. Repeated exposure to the payload will result in degraded performance of the canister. Note: Canisters written in Motoko are unaffected.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

0.9.0 ≤ v < 0.9.10
Affected range stops below 0.9.10, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
0.9.0 ≤ v < 0.9.100.9.0
Affected range stops below 0.9.10, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (5)

Product
Source: 6b35d637-e00f-4228-858c-b20ad6e1d07b
https://github.com/dfinity/candid/blob/master/spec/Candid.md
Patch
Source: 6b35d637-e00f-4228-858c-b20ad6e1d07b
https://github.com/dfinity/candid/pull/478
PatchThird Party Advisory
Source: 6b35d637-e00f-4228-858c-b20ad6e1d07b
https://github.com/dfinity/candid/security/advisories/GHSA-7787-p7x6-fq3j
Product
Source: 6b35d637-e00f-4228-858c-b20ad6e1d07b
https://internetcomputer.org/docs/current/references/candid-ref
Product
Source: 6b35d637-e00f-4228-858c-b20ad6e1d07b
https://internetcomputer.org/docs/current/references/ic-interface-spec

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.5HIGHDfinity
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-20CWE-168CWE-835CWE-1288

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