# CVE-2023-29194: vitess allows users to create keyspaces that can deny access to already existing keyspaces

> Attackers can create keyspaces with slashes to break VTAdmin and CLI listing functions, denying visibility to other keyspaces.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 14 Apr 2023
- **Updated:** 6 Feb 2025
- **Also known as:** AZL-26295, GHSA-735r-hv67-g38f, GO-2023-1717

## What is CVE-2023-29194?

CVE-2023-29194 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in vitessio vitess, published on 14 Apr 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Vitess is a database clustering system for horizontal scaling of MySQL. Users can either intentionally or inadvertently create a keyspace containing `/` characters such that from that point on, anyone who tries to view keyspaces from VTAdmin will receive an error. Trying to list all the keyspaces using `vtctldclient GetKeyspaces` will also return an error. Note that all other keyspaces can still be administered using the CLI (vtctldclient). This issue is fixed in version 16.0.1. As a workaround, delete the offending keyspace using a CLI client (vtctldclient).

Weakness: CWE-703 (Improper Check or Handling of Exceptional Conditions), CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-29194?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including vitess.io/vitess. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `vitess.io/vitess` | Go | All versions | 0.16.1 |
| `vitess.io/vitess` | Go | All versions | 0.16.1 |
| `vitess.io/vitess` | Go | All versions | 0.16.1 |

Products: Linuxfoundation Vitess.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-29194?

Upgrade vitess.io/vitess to 0.16.1 or later.

## Is CVE-2023-29194 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-29194 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in vitessio vitess

- [CVE-2026-104252](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-104252/): Vitess vttablet /twopcz reflected XSS (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-27969](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-27969/): Vitess users with backup storage access can write to arbitrary file paths on restore (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2026-27965](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-27965/): Vitess users with backup storage access can gain unauthorized access to production deployment environments (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2023-29195](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29195/): Vitess VTAdmin users that can create shards can deny access to other functions (medium 4.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-29194 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-29194 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in vitessio vitess, published on 14 Apr 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-29194 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- vitess.io/vitess (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 0.16.1
- vitess.io/vitess (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 0.16.1
- vitess.io/vitess (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 0.16.1

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29194/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29194/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-29194
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-29194
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-29194

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29194/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.