# CVE-2023-54394: PocketMine-MP missing rate-limit for mismatch inventory transactions

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2023-54394-pocketmine-mp-missing-rate-limit-for-mismatch-inventory  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-09-09. Updated: 2026-09-26  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2023-54394 · Severity: medium · CVSS 4.3 · Published 2026-09-09

PocketMine-MP is a Minecraft server implementation that manages player inventories and item synchronization. An attacker can send mismatch inventory transaction requests without rate-limiting, forcing the server to send large amounts of serialized inventory data repeatedly, consuming significant bandwidth and potentially degrading server performance for legitimate players.

Technologies: [pocketmine/pocketmine-mp (Packagist)](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/pocketmine-pocketmine-mp). Vendors: [Packagist](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/packagist).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2023-54394 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2023-54394 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2023-54394?** Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 4.3, published 9 September 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** pocketmine/pocketmine-mp (Packagist) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=4.18.0-ALPHA2.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2023-54394?** Yes. pocketmine/pocketmine-mp (Packagist): upgrade to 4.18.0-ALPHA2 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2023-54394 attacked?** It is attacked over the network.

**Am I affected by CVE-2023-54394?** Check whether you run pocketmine/pocketmine-mp (Packagist) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## How to fix

- pocketmine/pocketmine-mp (Packagist): upgrade to 4.18.0-ALPHA2 or later

  ```sh
  composer require pocketmine/pocketmine-mp:^4.18.0-ALPHA2
  ```


## Technical details

PocketMine-MP fails to rate-limit "mismatch" type InventoryTransactionPacket requests, which are used by clients to request a resync of all open inventories. An attacker with network access and low privileges (ability to connect as a player) can send numerous mismatch transactions per tick, causing the server to synchronize and transmit large amounts of serialized inventory data repeatedly. Since network-serialized inventory items can be very large (especially with NBT data), this acts as a bandwidth amplification attack. The vulnerability was patched in version 4.18.0-ALPHA2 by deferring inventory synchronization until the end of the tick and implementing the ItemStackRequest system.

## Affected products

- PocketMine PocketMine-MP before 4.18.0-ALPHA2

## Identifiers

- CVE-2023-54394
- GHSA-42qm-8v8m-m78c

## Timeline

- 2023-05-30: disclosed
- 2023-03-20: patched: Fix commit ca6d514 merged; patch released in version 4.18.0-ALPHA2
- 2023-05-30: advisory: GHSA-42qm-8v8m-m78c published

## References

- [https://github.com/pmmp/PocketMine-MP/commit/ca6d51498f12427a947467da8fcad7811418e6cc](https://github.com/pmmp/PocketMine-MP/commit/ca6d51498f12427a947467da8fcad7811418e6cc)
- [https://github.com/pmmp/PocketMine-MP/security/advisories/GHSA-42qm-8v8m-m78c](https://github.com/pmmp/PocketMine-MP/security/advisories/GHSA-42qm-8v8m-m78c)

## Related threats

- [PocketMine-MP denial of service in ModalFormResponsePacket handling](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-86204-pocketmine-mp-denial-of-service-in-modalformresponsepacket)
- [PocketMine-MP item duplication via despawn entity attack race condition](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-86203-pocketmine-mp-item-duplication-via-despawn-entity-attack-race)
- [PocketMine-MP network amplification in ActorEventPacket](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-86202-pocketmine-mp-network-amplification-in-actoreventpacket)
- [PocketMine-MP denial of service in LoginPacket processing](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-86201-pocketmine-mp-denial-of-service-in-loginpacket-processing)
- [PocketMine-MP denial of service in LoginPacket handler](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-86200-pocketmine-mp-denial-of-service-in-loginpacket-handler)