Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2023-40476 is a high-severity Stack-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-121) 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 21% 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 stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in its H265 video parser that permits remote code execution. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2023-40476 and originally ZDI-CAN-21768, arises from insufficient validation of the length of attacker-supplied data before it is copied into a fixed-size stack buffer during parsing of H265 encoded files. Affected installations include multiple versions of the GStreamer multimedia framework, which is widely used by applications that process untrusted media.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger the issue by supplying a malicious H265 file or stream to any application that uses the vulnerable GStreamer library. Successful exploitation grants arbitrary code execution in the context of the process that invokes the parser, with a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8 reflecting network attack vector, low complexity, and no required privileges beyond user interaction with the media.
Public advisories published by the GStreamer project and Zero Day Initiative, along with downstream notices such as the Debian LTS announcement, direct users to updated packages that contain the fix for the parsing routine.
EPSS for the vulnerability rose from lower values to a peak of 0.1060 before receding to its current score of 0.0622, indicating measurable post-disclosure exploitation interest.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-45047
Vulnerability Data
GStreamer H265 Parsing Stack-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 depending…
more
on the implementation. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of H265 encoded video files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a fixed-length stack-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. . Was ZDI-CAN-21768.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and analysis can discover stack-buffer overflows before deployment.
Input validation directly stops untrusted data from exceeding stack buffer bounds.
Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability to execute injected code after a stack overflow.
Secure-engineering principles include bounds-checked coding and safe buffer handling that avoid introducing the flaw.
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 prevent introduction of stack buffer overflows.
Vulnerability scanning can discover stack buffer overflows but does not prevent their introduction.
Patching eliminates known instances of the weakness after discovery.
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 (fuzzing, static analysis) detects stack overflows before release.
Secure SDLC mandates buffer-safety practices that directly prevent stack overflows.
Application security requirements can specify buffer-size and input-validation rules.
Secure architecture principles include memory-safety and least-privilege stack usage.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer handling that causes CWE-121.
Change-management gates can enforce security reviews that catch buffer issues.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
- V-248594 OL 8 must implement address space layout randomization (ASLR) to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution. prevents CWE-121
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
- V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-121