dbcve.org
LibeconfApplication · Opensuse

CVE-2023-32181

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 0.5.2 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 Copy without Checking Size of Input ('Classic Buffer Overflow') vulnerability in openSUSE libeconf allows for DoS via malformed configuration files This issue affects libeconf: before 0.5.2.

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 · moderate confidence

A classic buffer overflow exists in libeconf where the library copies data into a fixed-size buffer without validating the input size, allowing specially crafted configuration files to cause a denial of service.

MitigationUpdate libeconf to version 0.5.2 or later to obtain the patched library, then test that existing configuration files parse correctly.

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
LibeconfApplication
Affected:< 0.5.2

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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checks

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

  1. Locate libeconf library on the system
    Search for libeconf files: find /usr -name '*libeconf*' 2>/dev/null, or check package manager: rpm -qa | grep libeconf (RPM) or dpkg -l | grep libeconf (Debian)
    Affected if No libeconf library found means the system likely does not use this component
  2. Determine installed libeconf version
    If using RPM: rpm -q libeconf. If using dpkg: dpkg -s libeconf. If library file exists: ldd or strings on the .so file may reveal version.
    Affected if Unable to determine version means affected status is unknown
  3. Compare installed version to vulnerability threshold
    Check if version is below 0.5.2. Parse version numbers numerically (e.g., 0.5.1, 0.4.0 are vulnerable; 0.5.2 and above are not).
    Affected if Installed version is less than 0.5.2 (for example, 0.5.1, 0.4.x, or any version string that evaluates to less than 0.5.2)
  4. Identify if applications use libeconf for config parsing
    Check running processes or applications known to depend on libeconf: look for binaries linked against libeconf using: ldd /path/to/binary 2>/dev/null | grep libeconf, or check application documentation.
    Affected if Applications that link against libeconf and parse configuration files are potentially affected when processing crafted input

The environment is affected if libeconf version below 0.5.2 is installed AND applications parse configuration files using the vulnerable libeconf functions.

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 0.5.2 or later
Fixed in 0.5.2
Interim mitigation

Update libeconf to version 0.5.2 or later to obtain the patched library, then test that existing configuration files parse correctly.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

0.5.2

  1. Identify the current installed version of libeconf using package manager or build system
  2. Update package manager repositories to ensure latest packages are available
  3. Upgrade libeconf to version 0.5.2 or later via package manager (e.g., 'zypper update libeconf' for openSUSE, or equivalent for your distribution)
  4. If building from source, download libeconf version 0.5.2 or newer from the official GitHub repository
  5. Rebuild and reinstall the library after upgrading
  6. Verify the new version is installed correctly by checking the library version
  7. Test applications that depend on libeconf to ensure functionality is intact

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

Fix this in Libeconf Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,360
Get the upgrade done

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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-2023-32181 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