Security Resilience

CVE-2023-51886

Memory Safety in Ctan Mathtex ≤ 1.05

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
24 January 2024
Modified
30 May 2025
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0083 57th percentile
Risk Priority 59 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-2023-51886 is a high-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Ctan Mathtex. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique NTDS (T1003.003); ranked in the top 43% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Buffer Overflow vulnerability in the main() function in Mathtex 1.05 and before allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service when using \convertpath.

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-2023-51885Same product: Ctan Mathtex
CVE-2023-51888Same product: Ctan Mathtex
CVE-2023-51889Same product: Ctan Mathtex
CVE-2023-51890Same product: Ctan Mathtex
CVE-2023-51887Same product: Ctan Mathtex
CVE-2026-31060Shared CWE-120
CVE-2018-25301Shared CWE-120
CVE-2024-8575Shared CWE-120
CVE-2026-1679Shared CWE-120
CVE-2023-23305Shared CWE-120

Affected Assets

ctan
mathtex
≤ 1.05

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

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

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and analysis can find missing size checks before deployment.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly enforces size checks before buffer copies.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Engineering principles require bounds checking and safe buffer handling in design.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory protection limits the impact of an overflow once it occurs.

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