dbcve.org
Half LifeApplication · Valvesoftware

CVE-2023-30382

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

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 buffer overflow in the component hl.exe of Valve Half-Life up to 5433873 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code and escalate privileges by supplying crafted parameters.

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

Buffer overflow vulnerability in hl.exe (Half-Life game executable) allows remote or local attackers to execute arbitrary code and escalate privileges by supplying crafted parameters. The flaw affects versions up to build 5433873.

MitigationUpdate Half-Life to a version beyond 5433873. If updates are unavailable, consider running the application with reduced privileges or applying application-level mitigations such as input validation controls.

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
Half LifeApplication
Affected:all versions

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/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. Locate the Half-Life game executable
    Find hl.exe in the Half-Life installation directory, typically found in paths like C:\Program Files\Half-Life\hl.exe or C:\Program Files (x86)\Half-Life\hl.exe
    Affected if The file hl.exe exists on the system
  2. Check the file version of hl.exe
    Right-click hl.exe, select Properties, then go to the Details tab to view Product Version or File Version. Alternatively, use PowerShell: (Get-Item 'C:\Program Files\Half-Life\hl.exe').VersionInfo | Format-List *
    Affected if The version displayed is blank, unavailable, or shows a build number
  3. Obtain the build number of hl.exe
    If version info is not visible in Properties, use a tool like exiftool or check the file properties via command line: powershell -Command "(Get-Item 'path\to\hl.exe').VersionInfo.FileBuildPart"
    Affected if No build number is returned or the command fails to retrieve build information
  4. Compare the build against the vulnerable threshold
    Compare the obtained build number to 5433873. Versions at or below 5433873 are within the affected range
    Affected if The build number is 5433873 or lower, indicating the installed version is vulnerable

If hl.exe exists with a build number of 5433873 or lower, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update Half-Life to a version beyond 5433873. If updates are unavailable, consider running the application with reduced privileges or applying application-level mitigations such as input validation controls.

Fix this in Half Life Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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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-2023-30382 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
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