CVE-2023-43810: OpenTelemetry, also known as OTel for short, is a vendor-neutral open-source Observability framework for instrumenting, generating, collecting, and ex...

Description

OpenTelemetry, also known as OTel for short, is a vendor-neutral open-source Observability framework for instrumenting, generating, collecting, and exporting telemetry data such as traces, metrics, logs. Autoinstrumentation out of the box adds the label `http_method` that has unbound cardinality. It leads to the server's potential memory exhaustion when many malicious requests are sent. HTTP method for requests can be easily set by an attacker to be random and long. In order to be affected program has to be instrumented for HTTP handlers and does not filter any unknown HTTP methods on the level of CDN, LB, previous middleware, etc. This issue has been patched in version 0.41b0.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

7.5/10

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

EPSS Probability

0.69%

47.9th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

CWE-400

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions
Opentelemetry	Opentelemetry	< 0.41b0

References

Timeline

Published: Oct 6, 2023
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-43810?

OpenTelemetry, also known as OTel for short, is a vendor-neutral open-source Observability framework for instrumenting, generating, collecting, and exporting telemetry data such as traces, metrics, logs. Autoinstrumentation out of the box adds the label `http_method` that has unbound cardinality. It leads to the server's potential memory exhaustion when many malicious requests are sent. HTTP method for requests can be easily set by an attacker to be random and long. In order to be affected program has to be instrumented for HTTP handlers and does not filter any unknown HTTP methods on the level of CDN, LB, previous middleware, etc. This issue has been patched in version 0.41b0.

How severe is CVE-2023-43810?

CVE-2023-43810 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10 (HIGH severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.69% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2023-43810?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.