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Gecko Software Development KitApplication · Silabs

CVE-2023-2747

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.2.1 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
The initialization vector (IV) used by the secure engine (SE) for encrypting data stored in the SE flash memory is uninitialized.

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 · moderate confidence

The Secure Engine (SE) uses an uninitialized initialization vector (IV) when encrypting data stored in SE flash memory. This vulnerability weakens encryption by potentially exposing predictable or repeated IVs, allowing attackers to infer patterns in encrypted data or potentially recover plaintext in certain cryptographic modes.

MitigationUpdate the Secure Engine firmware to ensure the IV is properly initialized with cryptographically random values before each encryption operation. If the device is in deployment, consider a secure firmware update process to patch this vulnerability.

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
Gecko Software Development KitApplication
Affected:>= 2.0.0, < 2.2.1

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

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. Identify the installed Gecko SDK version
    Locate the SDK installation directory and check the version file or release notes. Common locations include the Simplicity Studio installation folder or a standalone SDK download. Look for a version.txt, release_notes.html, or similar file that states the SDK version.
    Affected if The installed version is >= 2.0.0 and < 2.2.1
  2. Verify Secure Engine (SE) flash encryption is in use
    Review your project configuration and source code to determine if the Secure Engine module is enabled for encrypting data stored in flash memory. Check for use of SE flash encryption APIs, secure storage features, or mbedTLS with SE-backed encryption.
    Affected if Secure Engine flash encryption is enabled and actively encrypting data to the SE flash region
  3. Determine the firmware version on the deployed device
    If the device is already deployed, retrieve the firmware version via the device's debug interface, bootloader information, or firmware manifest. This may require connecting via Simplicity Studio or using command-line tools like sl_cpc or the serial interface.
    Affected if The running firmware was built with a Gecko SDK version >= 2.0.0 and < 2.2.1
  4. Review the specific cryptographic configuration
    Examine your project's cryptographic settings for SE operations. Check if the affected code path for flash encryption is being exercised in your application. Look for any custom initialization of the IV in your encryption routines.
    Affected if The application uses SE flash encryption without explicit IV initialization, relying on the SDK's default behavior

You are affected if your deployed device or development environment uses Gecko SDK version 2.0.0 through 2.2.0 with the Secure Engine flash encryption feature enabled.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.2.1 or later
Fixed in 2.2.1
Interim mitigation

Update the Secure Engine firmware to ensure the IV is properly initialized with cryptographically random values before each encryption operation. If the device is in deployment, consider a secure firmware update process to patch this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Gecko SDK 2.2.1

  1. Obtain Gecko Software Development Kit version 2.2.1 or later from the official Silicon Labs source (community.silabs.com or github.com)
  2. Ensure all development environments using the affected Gecko SDK (versions 2.0.0 through 2.2.0) are updated to the new version
  3. If using a build system or dependency management, update the Gecko SDK reference to point to version 2.2.1 or later
  4. Rebuild and verify the application compiles successfully with the updated SDK
  5. Test the secure engine functionality to confirm encryption operations work correctly with the fixed IV initialization

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

Fix this in Gecko Software Development Kit Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-2747 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