Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-38103

Memory Safety in Gstreamer 1.22.3

Published
03 May 2024
Modified
17 March 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.015 72th percentile
Risk Priority 72 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-38103 is a high-severity Integer Overflow or Wraparound (CWE-190) 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 28% 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 SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — 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 is affected by an integer overflow vulnerability during RealMedia file parsing that can result in remote code execution. The flaw, assigned CWE-190, resides in the rmdemux module's handling of MDPR chunks where insufficient validation of attacker-controlled values permits an overflow before a buffer is allocated. The issue was reported as ZDI-CAN-21443 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8.

Remote attackers can trigger the vulnerability by delivering a crafted RealMedia file to any application that uses the affected GStreamer library. Successful exploitation allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the consuming process; the attack requires user interaction but needs no prior authentication and can be performed over the network.

Publicly referenced patches from the GStreamer project add explicit integer-overflow checks when calculating MDPR chunk sizes, and the Zero Day Initiative advisory ZDI-23-1007 provides additional technical detail on the flaw. The associated EPSS score has remained flat at 0.0786 with no material increase observed after disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

GStreamer RealMedia File Parsing Integer 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 depending…

more

on the implementation. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of MDPR chunks. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in an integer overflow before allocating a buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-21443.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-38104Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2023-37327Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2023-40474Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2026-2921Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2023-40475Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2024-47537Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2024-47834Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2023-40476Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2026-3081Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer
CVE-2023-44446Same product: Gstreamer Gstreamer

Affected Assets

gstreamer
gstreamer
1.22.3

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.6

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation (static analysis, fuzzing, unit tests) directly finds integer overflow defects before deployment.

Secure engineering principles require use of safe arithmetic constructs or language features that structurally eliminate integer overflow during calculation.

Input validation enforces bounds on values before arithmetic, stopping the conditions that trigger overflow or wraparound.

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.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require use of safe arithmetic, bounds checks, and testing that prevent integer overflows.

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.

finds

Security testing in development can detect integer overflows before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and arithmetic checks that prevent integer overflows.

degrades

Application security requirements include bounds checking and safe arithmetic to avoid overflow conditions.

degrades

Secure architecture principles require defensive coding patterns that mitigate integer wraparound risks.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe integer operations and mandate overflow-safe constructs.

References