Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-5535

Memory Safety in Fedoraproject Fedora 37 … 39

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
11 October 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0054 42th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-5535 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 42th 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

Use After Free in GitHub repository vim/vim prior to v9.0.2010.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
Why these techniques?

Use-after-free vulnerability in Vim allows exploitation for arbitrary code execution in a client application when processing malicious files.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-48231Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-4750Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-4733Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-31578Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-5842Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-5846Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-5847Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-5845Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-6509Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-46246Same product: Vim Vim

Affected Assets

vim
vim
≤ 9.0.2010
fedoraproject
fedora
37, 38, 39

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-416

Use-after-free exploits that achieve arbitrary code execution are blocked or significantly hardened by non-executable pages and ASLR.

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 incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

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 can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

References