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Enterprise LinuxOperating system · Redhat

CVE-2023-2203

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A flaw was found in the WebKitGTK package. An improper input validation issue may lead to a use-after-free vulnerability. This flaw allows attackers with network access to pass specially crafted web content files, causing a denial of service or arbitrary code execution. This CVE exists because of a CVE-2023-28205 security regression for the WebKitGTK package in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A use-after-free vulnerability exists in WebKitGTK due to improper input validation when processing specially crafted web content files. This is a security regression from CVE-2023-28205 affecting RHEL 8.8 and 9.2, allowing remote attackers with network access to potentially execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service.

MitigationApply the WebKitGTK security update for RHEL 8.8 and 9.2 to address the regression, and restrict untrusted web content from being processed by the affected application until patches are applied.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0
Enterprise Linux EusOperating system
Affected:= 8.8= 9.2
Enterprise Linux Server AusOperating system
Affected:= 8.8= 9.2
Enterprise Linux Server TusOperating system
Affected:= 8.8
Webkit2gtk3Web browser
Affected:= 2.38.5-1.el8= 2.38.5-1.el9

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if WebKitGTK is installed
    Run 'rpm -qa | grep -i webkit' or 'dpkg -l | grep -i webkit' to list installed WebKit packages
    Affected if Package names containing webkit2gtk3 or webkitgtk3 are found
  2. Identify the exact WebKitGTK version
    Run 'rpm -q webkit2gtk3' (RHEL) or 'dpkg -s libwebkit2gtk-4.0-37' (Debian) to get the precise version number
    Affected if The version number is 2.38.5-1.el8 or 2.38.5-1.el9 (or any version at or below these on RHEL systems)
  3. Check the Red Hat Enterprise Linux version
    Run 'cat /etc/redhat-release' to confirm the RHEL version
    Affected if The system runs RHEL 8.0, 9.0, 8.8, 9.2, or related EUS/Aus/Tus variants with the vulnerable WebKit version installed
  4. Determine if applications process web content
    Identify applications using WebKitGTK (such as web browsers, email clients, or HTML preview components) and check if they handle untrusted web content or HTML files from external sources
    Affected if Applications that use WebKitGTK to process HTML or web content from untrusted sources are in use
  5. Audit WebKitGTK library usage
    Run 'ldd /path/to/application | grep webkit' or check /usr/lib*/libwebkit* to see which applications link to the WebKit library
    Affected if Any application dynamically linked to the vulnerable WebKitGTK library is present

The system is affected if it runs RHEL 8.x or 9.x (particularly 8.0, 8.8, 9.0, 9.2) with WebKitGTK version 2.38.5-1.el8 or 2.38.5-1.el9 installed and processes untrusted web content.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the WebKitGTK security update for RHEL 8.8 and 9.2 to address the regression, and restrict untrusted web content from being processed by the affected application until patches are applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Red Hat Enterprise Linux update channels (via dnf/yum) - the fixed version is available through RHN/Red Hat Satellite

  1. Run 'sudo dnf check-update' or 'sudo yum check-update' to check for available updates for the webkit2gtk3 package
  2. Run 'sudo dnf update webkit2gtk3' or 'sudo yum update webkit2gtk3' to apply the security patch
  3. Reboot the system if the webkit2gtk library is in use by critical services to ensure the updated library is loaded
  4. Verify the update was successful by running 'rpm -qa | grep webkit2gtk3' to confirm the new version is installed
Caveat Standard update - may require session restart if webkit-based applications are running

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Enterprise Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,120
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-2203 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data