dbcve.org
FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2023-32627

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
A floating point exception vulnerability was found in sox, in the read_samples function at sox/src/voc.c:334:18. This flaw can lead to a 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 confidence

A floating point exception occurs in sox's VOC audio file parser when processing specially crafted input in the read_samples function at sox/src/voc.c:334:18, causing the program to crash and result in denial of service.

MitigationUpdate sox to the latest version which includes proper input validation or floating point exception handling in the VOC file parser. Alternatively, avoid processing untrusted VOC files with sox until a patch is available.

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
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 38
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Sound ExchangeApplication
Affected:= 14.4.3
Extra Packages For Enterprise LinuxApplication
Affected:= 8.0

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
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 checks

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

  1. Verify sox is installed
    Run 'which sox' or 'rpm -q sox' to check if the sox package is present on the system
    Affected if sox is installed and the system runs sox to process audio files
  2. Determine installed sox version
    Run 'sox --version' to display the installed version number
    Affected if the installed version matches 14.4.3 or matches the affected distribution versions (Fedora 38, RHEL 6.0, RHEL 7.0, EPEL 8.0)
  3. Check if VOC format support is available
    Run 'sox --help-format voc' or 'sox -i -t voc' on a test file to verify VOC format parsing is enabled in this build
    Affected if VOC format is supported and sox can parse VOC audio files
  4. Identify VOC file processing vectors
    Look for scripts, automated tools, or user-upload mechanisms that process VOC files through sox, such as 'sox input.voc output.wav'
    Affected if sox is used to process VOC files from untrusted sources

A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable sox version (14.4.3 or the listed distribution versions) and processes VOC audio files with sox.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update sox to the latest version which includes proper input validation or floating point exception handling in the VOC file parser. Alternatively, avoid processing untrusted VOC files with sox until a patch is available.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest stable sox version available in distribution repositories (version > 14.4.3)

  1. 1. Identify the current installed version of sox (sound exchange) using: dnf list installed sox or rpm -qa | grep sox
  2. 2. Check for available updates in your distribution's repository: dnf check-update sox (for Fedora/EL)
  3. 3. Backup any critical audio files or configurations before upgrading
  4. 4. Apply the security update: dnf update sox (Fedora/EL) or apt update && apt upgrade sox (Debian-based)
  5. 5. Verify the new version is installed: sox --version
  6. 6. Test sox functionality with your typical audio conversion tasks to confirm the patch works correctly
Caveat Minor - this is a bug/security fix upgrade; sox command-line interface remains compatible; verify any custom scripts that parse sox output

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

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,190
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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-2023-32627 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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