GHSA-wxrw-gvg8-fqjp

Suggest an improvement
Source
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-wxrw-gvg8-fqjp
Import Source
https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/02/GHSA-wxrw-gvg8-fqjp/GHSA-wxrw-gvg8-fqjp.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/GHSA-wxrw-gvg8-fqjp
Aliases
Published
2026-02-06T22:52:00Z
Modified
2026-02-19T20:56:50Z
Severity
  • 7.5 (High) CVSS_V3 - CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H CVSS Calculator
Summary
Sliver has DNS C2 OTP Bypass that Allows Unauthenticated Session Flooding and Denial of Service
Details

Summary

The DNS C2 listener accepts unauthenticated TOTP bootstrap messages and allocates server-side DNS sessions without validating OTP values, even when EnforceOTP is enabled. Because sessions are stored without a cleanup/expiry path in this flow, an unauthenticated remote actor can repeatedly create sessions and drive memory exhaustion.

Vulnerable Component

  • server/c2/dns.go:84-90 (EnforceOTP stored but not enforced in bootstrap)
  • server/c2/dns.go:378-390 (TOTP requests routed directly to bootstrap)
  • server/c2/dns.go:490-521 (handleHello allocates session without OTP validation)
  • server/c2/dns.go:495 (sessions.Store with no lifecycle control in this path)
  • client/command/jobs/dns.go:46-52 (operator-facing EnforceOTP control implies auth gate)
  • implant/sliver/transports/dnsclient/dnsclient.go:896-900 (otpMsg sends TOTP with ID=0)
  • protobuf/dnspb/dns.proto:22 (documents TOTP in ID field)

Attack Vector

  • Network-accessible DNS listener
  • No authentication required
  • Low-complexity repeated DNS query loop
  • Trigger path: DNSMessageType_TOTP bootstrap handling

Proof of Concept

Preconditions

  • DNS listener is reachable
  • DNS C2 job is active

Reproduction Steps

  1. Send repeated DNS queries with a minimal protobuf message of type TOTP.
  2. Observe repeated session allocation/issuance behavior.
  3. Continue requests to increase active in-memory session state.

Example

while true; do
  dig +short @<DNS_C2_IP> baa8.<parent-domain> A >/dev/null
done

baa8 is a base32 payload for a minimal TOTP-type protobuf message.

Observable Indicators

  • Repeated bootstrap/session-allocation log entries from handleHello
  • Rising memory usage in the Sliver server process
  • Service slowdown or instability under sustained request volume

Impact

  • Unauthenticated remote denial of service (availability)
  • Resource exhaustion through unbounded session growth in DNS bootstrap path
  • Estimated CVSS v3.1: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (7.5 High)
Database specific
{
    "cwe_ids":  [
        "CWE-306",
        "CWE-400"
    ],
    "github_reviewed":  true,
    "github_reviewed_at":  "2026-02-06T22:52:00Z",
    "nvd_published_at":  "2026-02-09T21:15:49Z",
    "severity":  "HIGH"
}
References

Affected packages

Go / github.com/bishopfox/sliver

Package

Name
github.com/bishopfox/sliver
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:golang/github.com/bishopfox/sliver

Affected ranges

Type
SEMVER
Events
Introduced
0 Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected
Fixed
1.6.12

Database specific

last_known_affected_version_range
"<= 1.6.11"
source
"https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/02/GHSA-wxrw-gvg8-fqjp/GHSA-wxrw-gvg8-fqjp.json"