dbcve.org
FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2023-43788

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.5.17 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 vulnerability was found in libXpm due to a boundary condition within the XpmCreateXpmImageFromBuffer() function. This flaw allows a local attacker to trigger an out-of-bounds read error and read the contents of memory on the system.

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 boundary condition vulnerability exists in the XpmCreateXpmImageFromBuffer() function of libXpm, allowing an out-of-bounds read that enables a local attacker to read arbitrary memory contents on the system.

MitigationUpdate libXpm to the patched version. As a compensating control, restrict access to untrusted XPM image files and limit local access to trusted users only.

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:= 37= 38= 39
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0
LibxpmApplication
Affected:< 3.5.17

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Check if libXpm is installed
    On Fedora/RHEL systems, run: rpm -qa | grep -i libxpm or dpkg -l | grep -i libxpm
    Affected if libXpm package is found on the system
  2. Determine installed libXpm version
    Run: rpm -q --queryformat '%{VERSION}' libXpm (Fedora/RHEL) or dpkg -s libxpm (Debian-based)
    Affected if Version is lower than 3.5.17, or the specific Fedora (37, 38, 39) or RHEL (8.0, 9.0) versions listed are in use with the vulnerable library version
  3. Identify applications using libXpm
    Run: ldd /usr/bin/* 2>/dev/null | grep libXpm or check which X11 applications have libXpm as a dependency
    Affected if Applications linked against libXpm exist and can process XPM image files
  4. Check for untrusted XPM file processing
    Review system for applications that accept XPM image input (file uploads, image processing tools, graphical applications)
    Affected if The system processes XPM files from untrusted sources or runs in multi-user environments where local attackers could supply malicious XPM content

The system is affected if libXpm version is below 3.5.17 and the system or its users can process XPM image files using libXpm functions.

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 3.5.17 or later
Fixed in 3.5.17
Interim mitigation

Update libXpm to the patched version. As a compensating control, restrict access to untrusted XPM image files and limit local access to trusted users only.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

libxpm version 3.5.17 or later (e.g., libxpm-3.5.17-1 or equivalent in your distribution's repositories)

  1. 1. Identify the installed libxpm package version using: `rpm -qa | grep libxpm`
  2. 2. For Fedora systems (37, 38, 39): Run `sudo dnf update libxpm` to update to the fixed version
  3. 3. For RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux (8.0, 9.0): Run `sudo dnf update libxpm` or `sudo yum update libxpm` to apply the security update
  4. 4. Verify the updated version is 3.5.17 or later using: `rpm -qa | grep libxpm`
  5. 5. Restart any running applications that use libxpm to ensure the patched library is loaded
Caveat Standard security update; minimal risk of breaking changes as this is a bug fix for an out-of-bounds read vulnerability

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

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2023-43788 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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