Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-4874

Memory Safety in Debian Linux 10.0 … 12.0

Memory Safety
Published
09 September 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0072 51th percentile
Risk Priority 38 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-4874 is a medium-severity Undefined Behavior for Input to API (CWE-475) vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux. Its CVSS base score is 4.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499); ranked in the top 49% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A10:2025 Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Null pointer dereference when viewing a specially crafted email in Mutt >1.5.2 <2.2.12

CWE(s)
CWE-475CWE-476

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
attack.mitre.org →
T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
attack.mitre.org →
T1489 Service Stop Impact
Adversaries may stop or disable services on a system to render those services unavailable to legitimate users.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-4875Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-39857Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38203Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-39920Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-23145Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38683Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38034Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38337Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-36941Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-39902Same product: Debian Debian Linux

Affected Assets

mutt
mutt
1.5.2 — 2.2.12
debian
debian linux
10.0, 11.0, 12.0

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 SDLC practices (coding standards, reviews, testing) directly prevent undefined behavior from invalid API inputs.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover and record this class of API-related weakness.

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 can detect undefined behavior from invalid API inputs before deployment.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle includes API specification and validation that can prevent undefined behavior from invalid inputs.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can mandate explicit input validation and defined behavior for API parameters.

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

Secure system architecture principles can require defensive coding that eliminates undefined behavior in APIs.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding directly addresses avoiding undefined behavior by enforcing defined inputs and error handling in APIs.

References