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Gecko Software Development KitApplication · Silabs

CVE-2023-41097

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.4.0 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
An Observable Timing Discrepancy, Covert Timing Channel vulnerability in Silabs GSDK on ARM potentially allows Padding Oracle Crypto Attack on CBC PKCS7.This issue affects GSDK: through 4.4.0.

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 · moderate confidence

A timing side-channel vulnerability in Silicon Labs GSDK's CBC PKCS7 decryption creates a padding oracle, allowing attackers to infer information about encrypted data through observable timing differences during padding validation.

MitigationUpgrade GSDK to a patched version; alternatively, implement constant-time padding validation or migrate to authenticated encryption modes like GCM that are not vulnerable to padding oracle attacks.

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
Gecko Software Development KitApplication
Affected:<= 4.4.0

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 the installed GSDK version
    Locate the Silicon Labs Gecko Software Development Kit installation directory and check the version information file or manifest. Common locations include the Simplicity Studio installation folder or a dedicated GSDK folder in the development environment.
    Affected if The installed version is 4.4.0 or lower.
  2. Determine if CBC mode is in use
    Review the application source code and configuration files for cryptographic operations. Search for cipher block chaining (CBC) mode settings in encryption/decryption function calls, configuration parameters, or cryptographic library initialization code.
    Affected if CBC mode is explicitly configured or used for any encryption/decryption operations.
  3. Verify PKCS7 padding is enabled
    Inspect the cryptographic implementation and configuration to confirm PKCS7 padding is applied during encryption and validated during decryption. Check crypto configuration files or initialization code for padding scheme settings.
    Affected if PKCS7 padding is enabled for CBC-mode operations.
  4. Check for exposed decryption endpoints
    Examine network-facing code or APIs that perform decryption of data using CBC mode with PKCS7 padding. Look for functions that handle encrypted data from external sources.
    Affected if The device or application exposes any interface that performs CBC decryption with PKCS7 padding on untrusted input.

You are affected if your GSDK version is 4.4.0 or lower and your application uses CBC mode encryption with PKCS7 padding for decrypting data from external 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 a release after 4.4.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GSDK to a patched version; alternatively, implement constant-time padding validation or migrate to authenticated encryption modes like GCM that are not vulnerable to padding oracle attacks.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Gecko SDK version > 4.4.0 (any stable release after 4.4.0)

  1. 1. Identify all deployments using Gecko Software Development Kit version 4.4.0 or earlier
  2. 2. Check Silabs (Silicon Labs) official release channels for GSDK versions greater than 4.4.0
  3. 3. Upgrade Gecko SDK to the latest available version beyond 4.4.0 that contains the security fix
  4. 4. Verify the upgrade does not introduce regressions in dependent applications
  5. 5. Test the upgraded system to confirm the timing discrepancy has been addressed
Caveat Review release notes for any breaking changes between 4.4.0 and the target upgrade version

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

Fix this in Gecko Software Development Kit Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,280
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,448.

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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-2023-41097 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