Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-45661

Memory Safety in Nothings Stb Image.H 2.28

Memory Safety
Published
21 October 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0057 44th percentile
Risk Priority 52 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-45661 is a medium-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Nothings Stb Image.H. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 44th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

stb_image is a single file MIT licensed library for processing images. A crafted image file may trigger out of bounds memcpy read in `stbi__gif_load_next`. This happens because two_back points to a memory address lower than the start of the buffer…

more

out. This issue may be used to leak internal memory allocation information.

CWE(s)
CWE-125

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
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.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-45662Same product: Nothings Stb Image.H
CVE-2025-3406Same product: Nothings Stb Image.H
CVE-2025-3407Same product: Nothings Stb Image.H
CVE-2025-3409Same product: Nothings Stb Image.H
CVE-2025-3408Same product: Nothings Stb Image.H
CVE-2023-45666Same product: Nothings Stb Image.H
CVE-2023-45664Same product: Nothings Stb Image.H
CVE-2023-43281Same product: Nothings Stb Image.H
CVE-2023-45663Same product: Nothings Stb Image.H
CVE-2023-43898Same product: Nothings Stb Image.H

Affected Assets

nothings
stb image.h
2.28

Mitigating Controls

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.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
finds

Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.

References