Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-6693

Memory Safety in Redhat Enterprise Linux 8.0 … 9.0

Published
02 January 2024
Modified
03 November 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.9
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0033 25th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-6693 is a medium-severity Stack-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-121) vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux. Its CVSS base score is 4.9 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data from Local System (T1005); ranked at the 25th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A stack based buffer overflow was found in the virtio-net device of QEMU. This issue occurs when flushing TX in the virtio_net_flush_tx function if guest features VIRTIO_NET_F_HASH_REPORT, VIRTIO_F_VERSION_1 and VIRTIO_NET_F_MRG_RXBUF are enabled. This could allow a malicious user to overwrite…

more

local variables allocated on the stack. Specifically, the `out_sg` variable could be used to read a part of process memory and send it to the wire, causing an information leak.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
Why these techniques?

Stack-based buffer overflow in QEMU virtio-net allows malicious guest to overwrite stack variables, enabling information leakage from host process memory (T1005: Data from Local System) and potential remote code execution or privilege escalation on the host (T1068).

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CVE-2023-1073Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-3180Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-43785Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-1729Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-5367Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-34318Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-34432Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-0330Same product: Qemu Qemu

Affected Assets

qemu
qemu
≤ 8.2.1
redhat
enterprise linux
8.0, 9.0
fedoraproject
fedora
39

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

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-787

Out-of-bounds writes that corrupt control flow or inject shellcode are rendered non-executable by the same memory protections.

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 directly prevent introduction of stack buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning can discover stack buffer overflows but does not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching eliminates known instances of the weakness after discovery.

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 (fuzzing, static analysis) detects stack overflows before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates buffer-safety practices that directly prevent stack overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify buffer-size and input-validation rules.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety and least-privilege stack usage.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer handling that causes CWE-121.

prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

References