CVE-2023-41913
Published: 07 December 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-41913 is a critical-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Strongswan Strongswan. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 9.7% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
strongSwan versions before 5.9.12 contain a buffer overflow vulnerability in the charon-tkm component's DH proxy, where an oversized DH public value can exceed the internal buffer. The flaw affects releases as early as 5.3.0 and is triggered by a specially crafted IKE_SA_INIT message during IKE negotiation. It is tracked under CWE-120 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue over the network by sending a malicious IKE_SA_INIT message, potentially achieving remote code execution with full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact on the affected system. No user interaction or credentials are required for successful exploitation.
The strongSwan project addressed the flaw in release 5.9.12, with corresponding updates published in Fedora and Debian LTS advisories. The current EPSS score of 0.0532, with a peak of 0.0574, indicates limited observed exploitation interest to date.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-46391
Vulnerability details
strongSwan before 5.9.12 has a buffer overflow and possible unauthenticated remote code execution via a DH public value that exceeds the internal buffer in charon-tkm's DH proxy. The earliest affected version is 5.3.0. An attack can occur via a crafted…
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IKE_SA_INIT message.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Platform-independent managed code eliminates the need for unchecked native buffer copies that are the root cause of classic buffer overflows.