CVE-2023-43641
Published: 09 October 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-43641 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 0.9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
Deeper analysis
libcue versions 2.2.1 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds array access vulnerability (CWE-787) that can be triggered while parsing a malicious CUE sheet. The affected component is used by tracker-miners on GNOME desktops to automatically index files with a .cue extension, making the flaw reachable without any additional user action beyond saving the file.
An attacker can host a crafted cue sheet on a malicious webpage. When a GNOME user downloads the file to ~/Downloads, tracker-miners invokes libcue to parse it, resulting in remote code execution with the privileges of the tracker process. The CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8 reflects network attack vector, low complexity, and full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
The libcue project addressed the issue in version 2.3.0; the fixes are documented in the GitHub security advisory GHSA-5982-x7hv-r9cj and the associated commits that correct the array bounds checks. Downstream distributions are expected to ship the patched release and ensure tracker-miners uses the updated library. The EPSS score has remained elevated near 0.80 since disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-48041
Vulnerability details
libcue provides an API for parsing and extracting data from CUE sheets. Versions 2.2.1 and prior are vulnerable to out-of-bounds array access. A user of the GNOME desktop environment can be exploited by downloading a cue sheet from a malicious…
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webpage. Because the file is saved to `~/Downloads`, it is then automatically scanned by tracker-miners. And because it has a .cue filename extension, tracker-miners use libcue to parse the file. The file exploits the vulnerability in libcue to gain code execution. This issue is patched in version 2.3.0.
- 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.
Out-of-bounds writes that corrupt control flow or inject shellcode are rendered non-executable by the same memory protections.