CVE-2023-32665
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 an exponential blowup 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 · high confidenceGLib's GVariant deserialization is vulnerable to an exponential blowup attack where a specially crafted GVariant causes excessive computational processing during parsing, leading to denial of service. The vulnerability stems from algorithmic complexity issues in the deserialization logic that can be triggered by malicious 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< 2.74.4CVSS 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 GLib versionRun 'pkg-config --modversion glib-2.0' or check your system's package manager for the installed glib versionAffected if The reported version is less than 2.74.4
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Find GVariant usage in codeSearch source code for GVariant deserialization functions such as g_variant_new, g_variant_get, g_variant_parse, or similar GVariant API callsAffected if The application code uses GVariant to deserialize data from external or untrusted sources
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Check GVariant input sourcesInspect the application to determine if GVariant data is received from network sources, file imports, IPC mechanisms, or other external inputs that could contain malicious payloadsAffected if GVariant input originates from untrusted or network-accessible sources without prior validation
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Review GVariant parsing pathsExamine code paths where g_variant_new_from_data, g_variant_new_from_bytes, or related parsing functions are called, particularly where data size or format is not strictly validatedAffected if GVariant deserialization handles data without validating structure or size constraints before parsing
The environment is affected if GLib version is below 2.74.4 AND the system processes GVariant data from potentially untrusted sources using vulnerable deserialization code paths.
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 · scoped2.74.4
Apply the GLib security patch (update to the fixed version) and validate GVariant input sources to reject malformed or suspicious data before deserialization.
GLib 2.74.4
- Verify current GLib version by running `pkg-config --modversion glib-2.0` or `glib-config --version`
- Update your system's package manager cache (e.g., `apt update`, `yum check-update`, or `dnf check-update`)
- Upgrade GLib using your distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt install libglib2.0-0`, `yum update glib2`, or `dnf update glib2`)
- Verify the installed version is >= 2.74.4 using `pkg-config --modversion glib-2.0`
- Restart any services or applications that depend on GLib to ensure the new version is loaded
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-32665 — 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-2023-32665 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
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