dbcve.org
FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2023-34318

HIGH · 7.8 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 →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 heap buffer overflow vulnerability was found in sox, in the startread function at sox/src/hcom.c:160:41. This flaw can lead to a denial of service, code execution, or information disclosure.

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

A heap buffer overflow vulnerability exists in sox (Sound eXchange) within the startread function in sox/src/hcom.c at line 160. This flaw occurs during HCOM audio file parsing and can allow an attacker to cause denial of service, potentially execute arbitrary code, or disclose sensitive information via specially crafted HCOM files.

MitigationUpdate sox to the latest patched version that addresses this vulnerability. Until then, avoid processing untrusted or unknown HCOM audio files with sox.

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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. Verify sox is installed and retrieve version
    Run 'sox --version' or 'rpm -q sox' (RHEL/Fedora) to check if sox is installed and what version
    Affected if sox version matches 14.4.3, or is on Fedora 38, RHEL 6.0/7.0, or EPEL 8.0 (these are the affected versions/ranges)
  2. Confirm HCOM decoder support exists
    Run 'sox --help' or check for hcom support in the binary. On RHEL/Fedora, check 'rpm -ql sox | grep hcom' to see if hcom-related files are present
    Affected if The HCOM audio format decoder is compiled into or available with the installed sox binary (this module must be present for the vulnerability to be exploitable)
  3. Check for HCOM file processing activity
    Audit system for HCOM files using 'find / -name "*.hcom" 2>/dev/null' or review any logs/applications that process audio files with sox
    Affected if Your system contains HCOM audio files that could be processed by sox, or sox is used in automated pipelines handling user-submitted audio files
  4. Verify sox source code version if self-compiled
    If sox was compiled from source, inspect sox/src/hcom.c around line 160 in the startread function: 'head -n 170 sox/src/hcom.c | tail -n 20'
    Affected if The source code version is 14.4.3 or the startread function in hcom.c has not been patched for the heap buffer overflow vulnerability

You are affected if sox is installed with an affected version (14.4.3, Fedora 38, RHEL 6.0/7.0, or EPEL 8.0) AND the HCOM decoder is enabled AND your system processes or could process untrusted HCOM audio files.

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 patched version that addresses this vulnerability. Until then, avoid processing untrusted or unknown HCOM audio files with sox.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest available sox package in Fedora/RHEL/EPEL repositories (fixed in subsequent security advisories)

  1. Check for the latest sox package available in your distribution's repositories using: dnf check-update or yum check-update
  2. For Fedora 38, run: sudo dnf update sox
  3. For RHEL/CentOS/EPEL 8, run: sudo yum update sox
  4. Verify the version after update to confirm the fix: sox --version
  5. Restart any services or applications that use sox to ensure the updated library is loaded

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

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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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-2023-34318 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