CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2025-66564NVD status: Analyzed

timestamp-authority: Asymmetric Resource Consumption (Amplification)

CVE-2025-66564 is a high-severity asymmetric resource consumption (amplification) vulnerability in timestamp-authority from Sigstore, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected timestamp-authority versions: < 2.0.3. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.47% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update Sigstore Timestamp Authority to 2.0.3 or a later version.
  2. Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
  3. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
Sigstoretimestamp-authority< 2.0.3Not stated
Linux FoundationSigstore Timestamp Authoritybefore 2.0.32.0.3

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
NoneNo data is disclosed.
Integrity
NoneNothing can be modified.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. Scored by CNA (github.com).

Official description

Sigstore Timestamp Authority is a service for issuing RFC 3161 timestamps. Prior to 2.0.3, Function api.ParseJSONRequest currently splits (via a call to strings.Split) an optionally-provided OID (which is untrusted data) on periods. Similarly, function api.getContentType splits the Content-Type header (which is also untrusted data) on an application string. As a result, in the face of a malicious request with either an excessively long OID in the payload containing many period characters or a malformed Content-Type header, a call to api.ParseJSONRequest or api.getContentType incurs allocations of O(n) bytes (where n stands for the length of the function's argument). This vulnerability is fixed in 2.0.3.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Asymmetric Resource Consumption (Amplification)

The product does not properly control situations in which an adversary can cause the product to consume or produce excessive resources without requiring the adversary to invest equivalent work or otherwise prove authorization, i.e., the adversary's influence is asymmetric.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • An application must make resources available to a client commensurate with the client's access level.
  • An application must, at all times, keep track of allocated resources and meter their usage appropriately.
  • Consider disabling resource-intensive algorithms on the server side, such as Diffie-Hellman key exchange.

More Asymmetric Resource Consumption (Amplification) vulnerabilities (CWE-405)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: partial).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other vulnerabilities in timestamp-authority

All timestamp-authority vulnerabilities

Recent Asymmetric Resource Consumption (Amplification) vulnerabilities

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