Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-4693

Memory Safety in Redhat Enterprise Linux 8.0 … 9.0

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
25 October 2023
Modified
21 July 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0050 40th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-4693 is a medium-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Credential Access (T1212); ranked at the 40th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found on grub2's NTFS filesystem driver. This issue may allow a physically present attacker to present a specially crafted NTFS file system image to read arbitrary memory locations. A successful attack allows sensitive data cached…

more

in memory or EFI variable values to be leaked, presenting a high Confidentiality risk.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Why these techniques?

The out-of-bounds read vulnerability in GRUB2's NTFS filesystem driver enables a physically present attacker to present a crafted NTFS image, facilitating arbitrary memory reads that leak sensitive data cached in memory or EFI variable values, aligning with exploitation for credential access.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-4692Same product: Gnu Grub2
CVE-2026-4647Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2026-50262Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2026-3441Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2026-3442Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2024-45782Same product: Gnu Grub2
CVE-2025-0678Same product: Gnu Grub2
CVE-2024-45777Same product: Gnu Grub2
CVE-2024-45778Same product: Gnu Grub2
CVE-2023-6121Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux

Affected Assets

gnu
grub2
≤ 2.12
redhat
enterprise linux
8.0, 9.0

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.

detects

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
detects

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

prevents

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

prevents

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

prevents

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

prevents

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

References