Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-40547

Memory Safety in Redhat Enterprise Linux 7.0 … 9.0

Published
25 January 2024
Modified
26 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.049 91th percentile
Risk Priority 65 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-40547 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux. Its CVSS base score is 8.3 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique DHCP Spoofing (T1557.003); ranked in the top 9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-4 (Information Flow Enforcement) and IA-3 (Device Identification and Authentication) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A remote code execution vulnerability was found in Shim. The Shim boot support trusts attacker-controlled values when parsing an HTTP response. This flaw allows an attacker to craft a specific malicious HTTP request, leading to a completely controlled out-of-bounds write…

more

primitive and complete system compromise. This flaw is only exploitable during the early boot phase, an attacker needs to perform a Man-in-the-Middle or compromise the boot server to be able to exploit this vulnerability successfully.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1557.003 DHCP Spoofing Credential Access
Adversaries may redirect network traffic to adversary-owned systems by spoofing Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) traffic and acting as a malicious DHCP server on the victim network.
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.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-0646Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2023-52355Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2023-6228Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2024-8443Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2023-3164Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2023-52356Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2024-45782Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2024-45777Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2023-4692Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2023-40548Same product: Redhat Shim

Affected Assets

redhat
shim
≤ 15.8
redhat
enterprise linux
7.0, 8.0, 9.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Information flow enforcement directly requires validating the source of data before allowing transmission or receipt.

Device identification and authentication mandates verifying the source before establishing connections.

Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and bounds checks) finds out-of-bounds write flaws before deployment.

Session authenticity mechanisms require validation that communications originate from the expected party.

Requiring documented secure-development standards and tools can mandate bounds-checked coding practices that avoid the weakness.

Boundary protection at interfaces enforces checks on the origin of incoming communications.

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.AA-03 mostly match
prevents

Authentication directly verifies the source of users/services/hardware, mitigating origin validation failures.

PR.AA-04 mostly match
prevents

Verifying identity assertions enforces origin validation for conveyed claims.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices (static analysis, bounds checking, code review) are the primary means of preventing out-of-bounds writes.

ID.AM-03 partial match
prevents

Documenting authorized flows supports origin validation by defining expected sources.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover out-of-bounds write flaws so they can be remediated.

PR.IR-01 partial match
prevents

Protecting networks from unauthorized access requires origin checks on communication sources.

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 and acceptance can detect and prevent out-of-bounds write defects.

mitigates

Network security controls enforce origin validation at network boundaries.

mitigates

Security of network services includes validating the authenticity of service endpoints.

mitigates

Network segregation reduces exposure but does not directly validate origins.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that prevent out-of-bounds writes.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory handling.

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 (3 rules)
  • V-248574 YUM must be configured to prevent the installation of patches, service packs, device drivers, or OL 8 system components that have not been digitally signed using a certificate that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-346
  • V-248575 OL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-346
  • V-248827 OL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-346

References