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High severityNVD Advisory· Published Apr 14, 2023· Updated Feb 6, 2025

SpiceDB binding metrics port to untrusted networks and can leak command-line flags

CVE-2023-29193

Description

SpiceDB is an open source, Google Zanzibar-inspired, database system for creating and managing security-critical application permissions. The spicedb serve command contains a flag named --grpc-preshared-key which is used to protect the gRPC API from being accessed by unauthorized requests. The values of this flag are to be considered sensitive, secret data. The /debug/pprof/cmdline endpoint served by the metrics service (defaulting running on port 9090) reveals the command-line flags provided for debugging purposes. If a password is set via the --grpc-preshared-key then the key is revealed by this endpoint along with any other flags provided to the SpiceDB binary. This issue has been fixed in version 1.19.1.

Impact

All deployments abiding by the recommended best practices for production usage are NOT affected: - Authzed's SpiceDB Serverless - Authzed's SpiceDB Dedicated - SpiceDB Operator

Users configuring SpiceDB via environment variables are NOT affected.

Users MAY be affected if they expose their metrics port to an untrusted network and are configuring --grpc-preshared-key via command-line flag.

Patches

TODO

Workarounds

To workaround this issue you can do one of the following:

  • Configure the preshared key via an environment variable (e.g. SPICEDB_GRPC_PRESHARED_KEY=yoursecret spicedb serve)
  • Reconfigure the --metrics-addr flag to bind to a trusted network (e.g. --metrics-addr=localhost:9090)
  • Disable the metrics service via the flag (e.g. --metrics-enabled=false)
  • Adopt one of the recommended deployment models: Authzed's managed services or the SpiceDB Operator

References

Credit

We'd like to thank Amit Laish, a security researcher at GE Vernova for responsibly disclosing this vulnerability.

Affected packages

Versions sourced from the GitHub Security Advisory.

PackageAffected versionsPatched versions
github.com/authzed/spicedbGo
< 1.19.11.19.1

Affected products

1

Patches

1
9bbd7d76b6ea

Merge pull request from GHSA-cjr9-mr35-7xh6

https://github.com/authzed/spicedbJimmy ZelinskieApr 13, 2023via ghsa
commit
1 file changed · +10 −4
  • pkg/cmd/server/defaults.go+10 −4 modified
    @@ -73,15 +73,21 @@ func DefaultPreRunE(programName string) cobrautil.CobraRunFunc {
 // metrics and pprof endpoints.
 func MetricsHandler(telemetryRegistry *prometheus.Registry) http.Handler {
 	mux := http.NewServeMux()
+
 	mux.Handle("/metrics", promhttp.Handler())
+	if telemetryRegistry != nil {
+		mux.Handle("/telemetry", promhttp.HandlerFor(telemetryRegistry, promhttp.HandlerOpts{}))
+	}
+
 	mux.HandleFunc("/debug/pprof/", pprof.Index)
-	mux.HandleFunc("/debug/pprof/cmdline", pprof.Cmdline)
 	mux.HandleFunc("/debug/pprof/profile", pprof.Profile)
 	mux.HandleFunc("/debug/pprof/symbol", pprof.Symbol)
 	mux.HandleFunc("/debug/pprof/trace", pprof.Trace)
-	if telemetryRegistry != nil {
-		mux.Handle("/telemetry", promhttp.HandlerFor(telemetryRegistry, promhttp.HandlerOpts{}))
-	}
+	mux.HandleFunc("/debug/pprof/cmdline", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+		fmt.Fprintf(w, "This profile type has been disabled to avoid leaking private command-line arguments")
+	})
+
 	return mux
 }

Vulnerability mechanics

Generated by null/stub on May 9, 2026. Inputs: CWE entries + fix-commit diffs from this CVE's patches. Citations validated against bundle.

References

5

News mentions

0

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