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CobaltApplication · Ashlar

CVE-2023-34290

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2024-05-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.0.1204.54 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Ashlar-Vellum Cobalt Out-Of-Bounds Write 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 3DS files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in a write past the end of an allocated buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. . Was ZDI-CAN-18007.

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 confidence

This is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Ashlar-Vellum Cobalt's 3DS file parser. The parser fails to properly validate user-supplied data before writing to memory, allowing data to be written past the end of an allocated buffer. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution in the context of the current process.

MitigationAvoid opening untrusted 3DS files from unknown sources. Apply vendor patches when available. Consider implementing additional sandboxing or process isolation for file parsing operations.

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
CobaltApplication
Affected:< 12.0.1204.54

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify if Ashlar Cobalt is installed
    Check for Ashlar Cobalt installation via program files directory, Add/Remove Programs, or by searching for the application executable (commonly Cobalt.exe) on the system
    Affected if Ashlar Cobalt is present on the system
  2. Determine the installed version of Ashlar Cobalt
    Right-click the Cobalt.exe executable, select Properties, and view the Version tab; or launch the application and check Help > About for version information
    Affected if The displayed version number is lower than 12.0.1204.54
  3. Confirm the 3DS file parsing component is accessible
    Verify the application can open or import 3DS format files by checking file association or import capabilities in the application
    Affected if The application supports opening 3DS files and the installed version is below 12.0.1204.54

A user is affected if Ashlar Cobalt version 12.0.1204.54 or higher is NOT installed AND the application is used to open 3DS files from untrusted sources.

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 12.0.1204.54 or later
Fixed in 12.0.1204.54
Interim mitigation

Avoid opening untrusted 3DS files from unknown sources. Apply vendor patches when available. Consider implementing additional sandboxing or process isolation for file parsing operations.

Recommended fix High confidence

12.0.1204.54

  1. 1. Verify the currently installed version of Ashlar-Vellum Cobalt
  2. 2. Download Ashlar-Vellum Cobalt version 12.0.1204.54 or later from the official vendor website
  3. 3. Close any running instances of Cobalt
  4. 4. Install the updated version following the vendor's standard installation procedure
  5. 5. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds 12.0.1204.54

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

Fix this in Cobalt Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,200
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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-2023-34290 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