CVE-2023-34287
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 · uneditedAshlar-Vellum Cobalt CO File Parsing Stack-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Ashlar-Vellum Cobalt. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of CO files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a stack-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. . Was ZDI-CAN-17892.
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 confidenceA stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Ashlar-Vellum Cobalt's CO file parser. The parser fails to validate the length of user-supplied data before copying it into a fixed-size stack buffer, allowing an attacker to overflow the buffer and achieve remote code execution in the context of the current process via a specially crafted malicious CO file.
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< 12.0.1204.54CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate Ashlar Cobalt installationCheck Program Files (or Program Files x86) for the Ashlar Cobalt folder, or search for 'Cobalt.exe' on the system using file explorer or Get-ChildItem -Recurse in PowerShellAffected if Ashlar Cobalt software is found on the system
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Identify installed versionRight-click Cobalt.exe, select Properties, then view the Details tab for version information. Alternatively, right-click the application in Windows Add/Remove Programs and view the version fieldAffected if The displayed version number is less than 12.0.1204.54
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Verify CO file handling capabilityAttempt to locate or open a .CO file through the application. Check if the application has file associations registered for .CO extension in Windows default programs settingsAffected if The application can open or process .CO files
A system is affected if Ashlar Cobalt version is below 12.0.1204.54 and the application is capable of opening or processing CO files, as the buffer overflow occurs in the CO file parser when handling a maliciously crafted file.
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 · scoped12.0.1204.54
Users should avoid opening untrusted or unsolicited CO files. Organizations should implement file origin policies and consider deploying email/network sandboxing to inspect attachments before user access. Apply vendor patches when released.
Cobalt version 12.0.1204.54 or later
- Upgrade Ashlar-Vellum Cobalt to version 12.0.1204.54 or later to remediate the stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in CO file parsing.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-34287 — 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-2023-34287 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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