# CVE-2023-39915: Crashes on parsing certain invalid RPKI objects

> Attackers can crash the Routinator RPKI validator by sending malformed objects, causing a denial of service for network operators relying on it.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 13 Sep 2023
- **Updated:** 12 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xhpp-8gq6-3hf5

## What is CVE-2023-39915?

CVE-2023-39915 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in NLnet Labs Routinator, published on 13 Sep 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

NLnet Labs' Routinator up to and including version 0.12.1 may crash when trying to parse certain malformed RPKI objects. This is due to insufficient input checking in the bcder library covered by CVE-2023-39914.

Weakness: CWE-240 (Improper Handling of Inconsistent Structural Elements), CWE-232 (Improper Handling of Undefined Values)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-39915?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Nlnetlabs Routinator.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-39915?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-39915 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-39915 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-39915 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in NLnet Labs Routinator

- [CVE-2023-39916](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-39916/): Possible path traversal when storing RRDP responses (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2026-49235](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-49235/): Routinator crashes on specifically crafted RRDP XML files (high 8.7)
- [CVE-2026-49233](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-49233/): Routinator cache path traversal using rogue rsync URIs (high 8.3)
- [CVE-2026-49234](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-49234/): Routinator crashes on specifically crafted ASN strings in the API (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2022-3029](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3029/): Fatal error on incorrect base64 data in RRDP (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-39915 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-39915 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in NLnet Labs Routinator, published on 13 Sep 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-39915 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: NLnet Labs Routinator. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

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-2023-39915/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-39915/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-39915
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-39915
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-39915

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-39915/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.