Helix CoreApplication · Perforce

CVE-2023-5759

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2023.2 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
In Helix Core versions prior to 2023.2, an unauthenticated remote Denial of Service (DoS) via the buffer was identified. Reported by Jason Geffner.  

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

An unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger a buffer-based condition in Helix Core servers prior to version 2023.2 that causes a Denial of Service. The vulnerability is network-exploitable without authentication and stems from improper buffer handling in the server component.

MitigationUpgrade Helix Core to version 2023.2 or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, consider network segmentation or restricting access to the server until the patch can be applied.

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
Helix CoreApplication
Affected:< 2023.2

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Check if Helix Core server is running
    Run `p4 info 2>/dev/null` or `ps aux | grep p4d` to see if the p4d process is active
    Affected if No p4d process running means Helix Core is not deployed and not affected
  2. Identify Helix Core version
    Run `p4 info -s` and look for the Server version or `p4d -V` command to get the exact version number
    Affected if Unable to determine version means further investigation needed
  3. Compare version to affected range
    Check if the installed version is earlier than 2023.2 - version format typically appears as YYYY.N or like 2023.1, 2022.2, etc.
    Affected if Version is below 2023.2 (e.g., 2023.1, 2022.2, 2021.2) indicates the server is vulnerable
  4. Verify server is network-accessible
    Check if the p4d port is exposed externally using `netstat -tlnp | grep 1666` or review firewall rules
    Affected if Server port 1666 (default) is exposed to untrusted networks increases exploitability

The environment is affected if a Helix Core p4d server is running with a version earlier than 2023.2 and is network-accessible to unauthenticated attackers.

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 2023.2 or later
Fixed in 2023.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Helix Core to version 2023.2 or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, consider network segmentation or restricting access to the server until the patch can be applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

2023.2

  1. Verify current Helix Core version using 'p4 info' or 'p4 -V' command
  2. Download Helix Core server version 2023.2 or later from Perforce website
  3. Review Perforce upgrade documentation for your deployment type
  4. Stop the Helix Core server ('p4 admin stop' or equivalent)
  5. Backup Helix Core database and configuration files per standard backup procedures
  6. Install version 2023.2 server binaries
  7. Start the upgraded Helix Core server
  8. Verify server is operational and accessible

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

Fix this in Helix Core 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
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-5759 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-5759 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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