CVE-2023-28526
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 · uneditedIBM Informix Dynamic Server 12.10 and 14.10 archecker is vulnerable to a heap buffer overflow, caused by improper bounds checking which could allow a local user to cause a segmentation fault. IBM X-Force ID: 251204.
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 confidenceHeap buffer overflow in IBM Informix Dynamic Server archecker utility (versions 12.10 and 14.10) due to improper bounds checking. This allows a local authenticated user to trigger a segmentation fault via malformed input.
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= 12.10= 14.10all versionsCVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify IBM Informix Dynamic Server versionRun 'onstat -' or check the Informix version file in the installation directory (typically $INFORMIXDIR/etc/version), or query the database with 'onmode -version'Affected if The installed version is exactly 12.10 or 14.10
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Locate the archecker utilitySearch for the archecker binary in the Informix bin directory, typically $INFORMIXDIR/bin/archecker, or use 'find $INFORMIXDIR -name archecker -type f'Affected if The archecker utility file exists on the system
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Verify archecker is executableCheck file permissions with 'ls -la $INFORMIXDIR/bin/archecker' to confirm execute permissions for the user or groupAffected if The archecker utility has execute permissions for the querying user or their group
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Confirm local access to the systemVerify the user has local shell access to the Informix server host and can execute the archecker utility directlyAffected if A local authenticated user can invoke the archecker utility from the command line
A user is affected if they run IBM Informix Dynamic Server version 12.10 or 14.10 and have the archecker utility accessible with execute permissions on the local system.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedApply IBM-provided patches for Informix Dynamic Server 12.10 and 14.10. Restrict local access to trusted users and follow least-privilege principles until patch is applied.
Informix 12.10: Fix Pack 12.10.xC15 or latest 12.10 Fix Pack; Informix 14.10: Fix Pack 14.10.xC7 or latest 14.10 Fix Pack
- 1. Identify the current Informix Dynamic Server version using 'onstat -' or 'informix -V' command
- 2. For Informix Dynamic Server 12.10: Upgrade to Fix Pack 12.10.xC15 or later (e.g., 12.10.xC15) which contains the fix for archecker heap buffer overflow
- 3. For Informix Dynamic Server 14.10: Upgrade to Fix Pack 14.10.xC7 or later which contains the security fix
- 4. For Cloud Pak for Data: Apply the latest IBM Cloud Pak for Data update that includes the patched Informix container images
- 5. After upgrade, verify the archecker utility version matches the patched release using 'archecker -V'
- 6. Test the archecker functionality to confirm proper operation post-upgrade
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-28526 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-28526 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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