Security Resilience

CVE-2023-41913

Memory Safety in Strongswan 5.3.0 – 5.9.12

Memory Safety
Published
07 December 2023
Modified
18 December 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.023 83th percentile
Risk Priority 78 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-2023-41913 is a critical-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Strongswan Strongswan. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique NTDS (T1003.003); ranked in the top 17% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

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

Vulnerability Data

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…

more

IKE_SA_INIT message.

CWE(s)
CWE-120

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
attack.mitre.org →
T1010 Application Window Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of open application windows.
attack.mitre.org →
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-78133Same product: Strongswan Strongswan
CVE-2026-78132Same product: Strongswan Strongswan
CVE-2026-78130Same product: Strongswan Strongswan
CVE-2023-26463Same product: Strongswan Strongswan
CVE-2026-78134Same product: Strongswan Strongswan
CVE-2023-51888Shared CWE-120
CVE-2023-39666Shared CWE-120
CVE-2025-29362Shared CWE-120
CVE-2024-45541Shared CWE-120
CVE-2023-49993Shared CWE-120

Affected Assets

strongswan
strongswan
5.3.0 — 5.9.12

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

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Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.1

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.

SC-27 Platform-independent Applications
addresses: CWE-120

Platform-independent managed code eliminates the need for unchecked native buffer copies that are the root cause of classic buffer overflows.

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.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability identification processes such as code review or scanning detect classic buffer overflows before exploitation.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing unchecked buffer copies with corrected versions.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure development practices directly enforce bounds checking and input validation that prevent classic buffer 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.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References