CVE-2023-32611
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 · uneditedA flaw was found in GLib. GVariant deserialization is vulnerable to a slowdown issue where a crafted GVariant can cause excessive processing, leading to denial of service.
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 confidenceGLib's GVariant deserialization is vulnerable to algorithmic complexity attack where maliciously crafted GVariant data causes the parser to consume excessive CPU cycles, leading to denial of service. The vulnerability stems from lack of proper bounds checking or efficient parsing during the deserialization process.
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< 2.74.2CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed GLib versionRun `pkg-config --modversion glib-2.0` or check your system's package manager for the glib2 package version. On Linux: `rpm -q glib2` or `dpkg -l libglib2.0-0`. On macOS: `brew list glib` or check via Homebrew. On Windows: check the file version of glib-2.dll in your system or application directory.Affected if The installed GLib version is below 2.74.2 (e.g., 2.74.0, 2.73.x, 2.72.x, etc.)
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Identify applications using GVariant deserializationSearch your codebase or running processes for GVariant API usage: look for functions like g_variant_parse(), g_variant_new(), g_variant_get(), or references to the GVariant type system in application code or dependencies. Check process memory or loaded libraries for GLib/GLib-2.0 usage.Affected if Applications or services deserialize GVariant data from any external or untrusted source (network input, file parsing, IPC from other processes, user-uploaded content)
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Assess input source trustReview the data flow into GVariant deserialization functions. Identify if GVariant data originates from: network sockets, files from world-writable directories, command-line arguments, environment variables, or inter-process communication where the sender is untrusted.Affected if GVariant deserialization processes data from untrusted or attacker-controlled sources without prior validation or size limits
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Check for existing input validationInspect code or configuration around GVariant parsing for any input validation, size limits, or timeout mechanisms applied before g_variant_parse() calls. Look for length checks, magic number validation, or schema validation.Affected if No input validation, size limits, or parsing timeouts are implemented on GVariant data before deserialization
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Audit running services with GLib dependenciesList all running services and daemons that depend on GLib: run `ldd` on binaries in /usr/sbin or /usr/bin to find those linking against libglib-2.0.so. Check container or VM images for GLib version in their base layers.Affected if Production services or containers run GLib versions below 2.74.2 and accept external GVariant-formatted input
You are affected if your environment runs any GLib version below 2.74.2 AND deserializes GVariant data from untrusted sources without input validation or timeouts.
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 · scoped2.74.2
Apply input validation/size limits on GVariant data before deserialization, implement processing timeouts, and update GLib to a patched version if available. Applications using GVariant should validate and sanitize input data from untrusted sources.
GLib 2.74.2
- Update your package repository metadata to ensure you have access to the latest available packages
- Install or upgrade GLib to version 2.74.2 or later using your system's package manager (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get install libglib2.0-0, yum update glib2, or dnf update glib2)
- Verify the installed GLib version matches or exceeds 2.74.2 using: rpm -q glib2 or dpkg -l | grep glib
- Restart any running applications that link against GLib to ensure they use the updated library
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-32611 — 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-2023-32611 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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