CVE-2023-34311
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 Untrusted Pointer Dereference 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 a user-supplied value prior to dereferencing it as a pointer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. . Was ZDI-CAN-19879.
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 confidenceUntrusted pointer dereference vulnerability in Ashlar-Vellum Cobalt's CO file parser. The parser fails to validate a user-supplied value before dereferencing it as a pointer, allowing an attacker controlling the malicious CO file to manipulate memory and achieve remote code execution in the context of the current 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= 12.0.1204.57CVSS 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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Identify installed Ashlar Cobalt versionOpen Ashlar Cobalt and navigate to Help > About, or check the program's file properties (right-click the executable > Properties > Details) to find the product versionAffected if The displayed version is exactly 12.0.1204.57
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Verify CO file parsing capabilityConfirm that the Ashlar Cobalt installation includes CO file format support by attempting to open or import a .co file, or checking the file > open dialog for CO file filtersAffected if CO file parsing functionality is present and accessible in the application
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Check for CO file handler registrationLook for .co file association in Windows registry under HKCR\.co or examine the application's supported import formats in its documentation or preferencesAffected if The system has .co file associations or the application can process CO files
You are affected only if your installed Ashlar Cobalt version is exactly 12.0.1204.57 and you have the ability to open or parse CO files.
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.
From vendor dataAvoid opening CO files from untrusted sources. Apply vendor patches when available. Consider network segmentation and endpoint protection as compensating controls until the vulnerability is remediated.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,448.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-34311 — 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-2023-34311 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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