VulnerabilityPublished 13 Jul 2024Updated 20 Nov 2025

CVE-2023-39329: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 09:15 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 47% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 13 Jul 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2023-39329, European organizations should first verify if they use OpenJPEG version 2.5.0 in their software stack. If so, they should apply any available patches or updates from OpenJPEG or their software vendors as soon as they are released. In the absence of patches, organizations should implement strict input validation and filtering to block or quarantine untrusted JPEG 2000 images from external or unverified sources before processing. Employing sandboxing techniques to isolate image decoding processes can limit the impact of resource exhaustion. Monitoring resource usage patterns during image processing can help detect anomalous spikes indicative of exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should review and harden user interaction workflows that involve opening or processing image files, including user training to avoid opening suspicious images. Network-level controls, such as restricting image uploads or downloads from untrusted sources, can further reduce exposure. Finally, integrating rate limiting and timeout mechanisms in image processing services can prevent prolonged resource consumption caused by malicious inputs.

Description

CVE-2023-39329 is a medium severity vulnerability in OpenJPEG version 2.5.0 that allows an attacker to cause uncontrolled resource consumption via a crafted image file. The flaw exists in the opj_t1_decode_cblks function in the tcd.c source file, leading to a denial of service (DoS) condition. Exploitation requires no privileges but does require user interaction to process the malicious image. The vulnerability impacts availability only, with no confidentiality or integrity loss. No known public exploits are reported yet. European organizations using OpenJPEG 2.5.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability primarily threatens service availability by enabling denial of service attacks through resource exhaustion. Organizations that rely on OpenJPEG 2.5.0 for image decoding in critical workflows—such as digital media companies, publishing houses, government document management systems, and healthcare imaging platforms—may experience service disruptions or degraded performance. This could lead to operational downtime, delayed processing, and potential loss of business continuity. Although the vulnerability does not compromise data confidentiality or integrity, the availability impact can indirectly affect user trust and operational efficiency. Additionally, automated systems that ingest images from external sources without proper validation are at higher risk. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers may develop exploits targeting this vulnerability. European organizations with stringent uptime requirements or those operating in sectors with critical imaging needs should prioritize mitigation to prevent potential denial of service incidents.

References

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