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CVE-2023-33192 — Vulnerability in ntpd — CVE Details

HIGH

Improper handling of NTS cookie length that could crash the ntpd-rs server

Published May 25, 2023Updated September 10, 2026Source: osv

Summary

### Impact ntpd-rs does not validate the length of NTS cookies in received NTP packets to the server. An attacker can crash the server by sending a specially crafted NTP packet containing a cookie shorter than what the server expects. The server also crashes when it is not configured to handle NTS packets. ntpd-rs running purely as an ntp client is not affected. ### Patches The issue was caused by improper slice indexing. The indexing operations were replaced by safer alternatives that do not crash the ntpd-rs server process but instead properly handle the error condition. A patch was released in version 0.3.3 ### Workarounds ntpd-rs running purely as an ntp client is not affected. By default, ntpd-rs packages are not configured to run as a server. For machines where serving the time is required, there is no known workaround. Users are recommended to upgrade ntpd-rs as soon as possible. ### References https://github.com/pendulum-project/ntpd-rs/pull/752 We would like to thank @mlichvar for identifying this issue

Advisory Timeline

  • First published May 25, 2023 (1236 days ago).
  • Last revised September 10, 2026 — 1203 days after initial publication.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

Cargo
Update ntpd to 0.3.3 or later
cargo update -p ntpd --precise 0.3.3

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (1)

Affects 1 ecosystem: crates.io (1).

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
ntpd
crates.io
All versions0.3.3

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 7.5 score means for each attack dimension.

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

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

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-33192?
Improper handling of NTS cookie length that could crash the ntpd-rs server This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of HIGH (CVSS score: 7.5/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2023-33192?
CVE-2023-33192 affects ntpd. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2023-33192 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
7.5

High exploitability or significant impact. Prioritize remediation within days.

Also Known As

GHSA-qwhm-h7v3-mrjx

Related CVEs

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  • CVE-2026-18140
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    aws-smithy-json: Uncontrolled recursion in the aws-smithy-json unknown-key skip path allows unauthenticated remote denial of service in smithy-rs generated servers

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