Classic Buffer OverflowWeakness · CWE-120

CVE-2024-53379

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-01-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
Heap buffer overflow in the server site handshake implementation in Real Time Logic LLC's SharkSSL version (from 05/05/24) commit 64808a5e12c83b38f85c943dee0112e428dc2a43 allows a remote attacker to trigger a Denial-of-Service via a malformed Client-Hello message.

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 SharkSSL's server site handshake implementation. The flaw is triggered when processing a malformed Client-Hello message during the TLS/SSL handshake, causing the server to write beyond allocated heap memory boundaries and resulting in denial of service.

MitigationImplement proper bounds checking and input validation on Client-Hello message fields before copying data to heap buffers. Consider updating to any patched version of SharkSSL if available from the vendor.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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. Identify SharkSSL installation
    Search for SharkSSL libraries, headers, or components in your system. Common locations include /usr/lib/, /opt/, or embedded firmware images. Look for files named libsharkssl.* or sharkssl-related binaries.
    Affected if SharkSSL is present in the environment
  2. Verify TLS server mode is enabled
    Review your application code or configuration to determine if the SharkSSL TLS server mode is active. Check for initialization of SharkSSL as a server (e.g., SOCKET_SSL_SERVER flag or equivalent API call).
    Affected if SharkSSL is configured as a TLS server accepting client connections
  3. Determine SharkSSL version
    Inspect the SharkSSL library binary or header files for version information. Run 'strings' on the library or check version constants in included headers. Compare against any available SharkSSL release notes.
    Affected if The installed version cannot be confirmed as patched or is an older release
  4. Check for exposed TLS endpoints
    Identify network services using SharkSSL for TLS. Use 'netstat' or 'ss' to list listening ports with TLS/SSL. Review application logs for SharkSSL handshake activity.
    Affected if SharkSSL TLS server endpoints are exposed and reachable on the network

You are affected if SharkSSL is deployed with TLS server functionality enabled and the version is older than any available patched release.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement proper bounds checking and input validation on Client-Hello message fields before copying data to heap buffers. Consider updating to any patched version of SharkSSL if available from the vendor.

Have this fixed 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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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2024-53379 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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