Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2023-37328 is a high-severity Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) vulnerability in Gstreamer Gstreamer. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 20% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
GStreamer contains a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in its PGS subtitle file parser, tracked as CVE-2023-37328. The flaw stems from insufficient validation of the length of attacker-supplied data before it is copied into a heap buffer, allowing memory corruption during file processing. The issue affects installations of GStreamer that parse PGS subtitles and was originally reported as ZDI-CAN-20994.
Remote attackers can exploit the vulnerability by supplying a malicious PGS file to any application or service that uses the affected GStreamer library. Successful exploitation grants arbitrary code execution in the context of the process handling the subtitle data, with no authentication required and only user interaction needed to trigger the file parse.
The GStreamer project has published security advisory SA-2023-0003 detailing the issue and corresponding fixes, while the Zero Day Initiative has released ZDI-23-901 with additional technical analysis. Downstream distributions such as Fedora have issued coordinated package updates to address the vulnerability. The associated EPSS score has remained flat at 0.0771 with no material increase since disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-41232
Vulnerability Data
GStreamer PGS File Parsing Heap-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of GStreamer. Interaction with this library is required to exploit this vulnerability but attack vectors may vary…
more
depending on the implementation. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of PGS subtitle files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a heap-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. . Was ZDI-CAN-20994.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.4.1
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and memory-error detectors) can discover heap overflows after they have been coded.
Input validation enforces bounds checking on data written to heap buffers, directly stopping the overflow condition from being introduced.
Security engineering principles require use of memory-safe constructs and bounds-checked allocation routines that avoid introducing heap overflows.
Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability of a heap overflow to execute attacker-controlled code or corrupt adjacent structures.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure-development practices directly require bounds checking and safe memory handling that prevent heap overflows.
Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover heap-overflow flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.
Timely patching removes known heap-overflow instances after they exist.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development and acceptance can detect heap overflows before release.
Secure development lifecycle mandates practices that reduce the likelihood of introducing heap overflows.
Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory APIs that mitigate heap overflows.
Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safety and input-validation controls that address heap overflows.
Secure coding standards directly prescribe techniques (safe functions, bounds checks) that prevent heap-based buffer overflows.
Change management ensures controlled deployment of fixes for discovered heap-overflow vulnerabilities.