Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-52557

Openbsd ≤ 7.3

Published
01 March 2024
Modified
10 October 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
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 0.0056 43th percentile
Risk Priority 58 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-52557 is a high-severity Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size (CWE-131) vulnerability in Openbsd Openbsd. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 43th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In OpenBSD 7.3 before errata 016, npppd(8) could crash by a l2tp message which has an AVP (Attribute-Value Pair) with wrong length.

CWE(s)
CWE-131CWE-805

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 →
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-2023-52558Same product: Openbsd Openbsd
CVE-2025-30334Same product: Openbsd Openbsd
CVE-2026-57589Same product: Openbsd Openbsd
CVE-2026-55706Same product: Openbsd Openbsd
CVE-2026-56099Same product: Openbsd Openbsd
CVE-2024-10934Same product: Openbsd Openbsd
CVE-2026-41285Same product: Openbsd Openbsd
CVE-2023-40216Same product: Openbsd Openbsd
CVE-2024-10933Same product: Openbsd Openbsd
CVE-2023-52556Same product: Openbsd Openbsd

Affected Assets

openbsd
openbsd
7.3 · ≤ 7.3

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)
  • V1.4.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer security testing and code review can discover incorrect buffer-size computations before deployment.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Secure engineering principles directly require correct buffer-size arithmetic and bounds-checked allocation.

SI-10 Information Input Validation partial match

Input validation can enforce that supplied lengths or counts used in size calculations are within safe bounds.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the exploitability of an overflow that results from an incorrect size calculation.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation partial match

Flaw-remediation processes that include vulnerability scanning or static analysis will surface buffer-size errors.

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 directly prevent buffer-size miscalculations via coding standards, reviews, and testing, while fixing this single weakness only partially fulfills the broader control.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification can discover buffer-length flaws but does not prevent their introduction.

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.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
degrades

Secure coding standards directly require correct buffer-size calculations.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect buffer-size errors before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates size-checking practices that reduce buffer-size miscalculations.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify buffer-size validation rules.

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

Secure architecture principles include safe memory-allocation guidelines.

References