CVE-2023-7256
Double-free in libpcap before 1.10.5 with remote packet capture support.
CVE-2023-7256 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 4.4) in Tcpdump Libpcap, published August 30, 2024. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.24%, the 15th percentile. Fixed in libpcap 1.10.5-1.
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. A similar problem was reported in Apple libpcap, to which Apple assigned CVE-2023-40400.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- High
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
4.4
Double-free in libpcap before 1.10.5 with remote packet capture support.
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. A similar problem was reported in Apple libpcap, to which Apple assigned CVE-2023-40400.
- Record
CVE-2023-7256- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-415
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-59437
4.4
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. A similar problem was reported in Apple libpcap, to which Apple assigned CVE-2023-40400.
- Record
EUVD-2023-59437- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-7m22-9mw3-j4pp
4.4
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function...
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. A similar problem was reported in Apple libpcap, to which Apple assigned CVE-2023-40400.
- Record
GHSA-7m22-9mw3-j4pp- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-415
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
4.4
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. A similar problem was reported in Apple libpcap, to which Apple assigned CVE-2023-40400.
- Record
CVE-2023-7256- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-415
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVAZL-48415
4.4
CVE-2023-7256 affecting package libpcap for versions less than 1.10.5-1
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. A similar problem was reported in Apple libpcap, to which Apple assigned CVE-2023-40400.
- Record
AZL-48415- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVAZL-48427
4.4
CVE-2023-7256 affecting package nmap for versions less than 7.95-2
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. A similar problem was reported in Apple libpcap, to which Apple assigned CVE-2023-40400.
- Record
AZL-48427- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Show 17 moreShow less
OSVAZL-48451
4.4
CVE-2023-7256 affecting package libpcap for versions less than 1.10.1-4
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. A similar problem was reported in Apple libpcap, to which Apple assigned CVE-2023-40400.
- Record
AZL-48451- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVAZL-48468
4.4
CVE-2023-7256 affecting package nmap for versions less than 7.93-3
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. A similar problem was reported in Apple libpcap, to which Apple assigned CVE-2023-40400.
- Record
AZL-48468- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
4.4
Double-free in libpcap before 1.10.5 with remote packet capture support.
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. A similar problem was reported in Apple libpcap, to which Apple assigned CVE-2023-40400.
- Record
CVE-2023-7256- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-415
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2023-7256
4.4
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. A similar problem was reported in Apple libpcap, to which Apple assigned CVE-2023-40400.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2023-7256- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVJLSEC-2026-764
4.4
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function...
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. A similar problem was reported in Apple libpcap, to which Apple assigned CVE-2023-40400.
- Record
JLSEC-2026-764- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVOESA-2024-2180
4.4
libpcap security update
This is the official web site of tcpdump, a powerful command-line packet analyzer; and libpcap, a portable C/C++ library for network traffic capture.
Security Fix(es):
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. A similar problem was reported in Apple libpcap, to which Apple assigned CVE-2023-40400.(CVE-2023-7256)
Remote packet capture support is disabled by default in libpcap. When a user builds libpcap with remote packet capture support enabled, one of the functions that become available is pcap_findalldevs_ex(). One of the function arguments can be a filesystem path, which normally means a directory with input data files. When the specified path cannot be used as a directory, the function receives NULL from opendir(), but does not check the return value and passes the NULL value to readdir(), which causes a NULL pointer derefence.(CVE-2024-8006)
- Record
OESA-2024-2180- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2024-0295 No score
Updated libpcap packages fix security vulnerabilities
In affected libpcap versions during the setup of a remote packet capture the internal function sock_initaddress() calls getaddrinfo() and possibly freeaddrinfo(), but does not clearly indicate to the caller function whether freeaddrinfo() still remains to be called after the function returns. This makes it possible in some scenarios that both the function and its caller call freeaddrinfo() for the same allocated memory block. (CVE-2023-7256) Remote packet capture support is disabled by default in libpcap. When a user builds libpcap with remote packet capture support enabled, one of the functions that become available is pcap_findalldevs_ex(). One of the function arguments can be a filesystem path, which normally means a directory with input data files. When the specified path cannot be used as a directory, the function receives NULL from opendir(), but does not check the return value and passes the NULL value to readdir(), which causes a NULL pointer derefence. (CVE-2024-8006)
- Record
MGASA-2024-0295- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:14309-1 No score
libpcap-devel-1.10.5-1.1 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the libpcap-devel-1.10.5-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:14309-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVROOT-OS-ALPINE-318-CVE-2023-7256 No score
CVE-2023-7256 in libpcap - Patched by Root
Root has patched CVE-2023-7256 in the libpcap package for Root:Alpine:3.18. Multiple fixed versions available.
- Record
ROOT-OS-ALPINE-318-CVE-2023-7256- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVROOT-OS-ALPINE-319-CVE-2023-7256 No score
CVE-2023-7256 in libpcap - Patched by Root
Root has patched CVE-2023-7256 in the libpcap package for Root:Alpine:3.19. Multiple fixed versions available.
- Record
ROOT-OS-ALPINE-319-CVE-2023-7256- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVROOT-OS-ALPINE-320-CVE-2023-7256 No score
CVE-2023-7256 in libpcap - Patched by Root
Root has patched CVE-2023-7256 in the libpcap package for Root:Alpine:3.20. Multiple fixed versions available.
- Record
ROOT-OS-ALPINE-320-CVE-2023-7256- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2024:3210-1 No score
Security update for libpcap
This update for libpcap fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2024-8006: NULL pointer dereference in function pcap_findalldevs_ex(). (bsc#1230034)
- CVE-2023-7256: double free via struct addrinfo in function sock_initaddress(). (bsc#1230020)
- Record
SUSE-SU-2024:3210-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2024:3217-1 No score
Security update for libpcap
This update for libpcap fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2024-8006: NULL pointer dereference in function pcap_findalldevs_ex(). (bsc#1230034)
- CVE-2023-7256: double free via struct addrinfo in function sock_initaddress(). (bsc#1230020)
- Record
SUSE-SU-2024:3217-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2024:3355-1 No score
Security update for libpcap
This update for libpcap fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2024-8006: NULL pointer dereference in function pcap_findalldevs_ex(). (bsc#1230034)
- CVE-2023-7256: double free via struct addrinfo in function sock_initaddress(). (bsc#1230020)
- Record
SUSE-SU-2024:3355-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2024:3516-1 No score
Security update for libpcap
This update for libpcap fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2024-8006: NULL pointer dereference in function pcap_findalldevs_ex(). (bsc#1230034)
- CVE-2023-7256: double free via struct addrinfo in function sock_initaddress(). (bsc#1230020)
- Record
SUSE-SU-2024:3516-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2025:20059-1 No score
Security update for libpcap
This update for libpcap fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2024-8006: Fixed NULL pointer dereference in pcap_findalldevs_ex() (bsc#1230034)
- CVE-2023-7256: Fixed double free via addrinfo in sock_initaddress() (bsc#1230020)
- Record
SUSE-SU-2025:20059-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2026:20064-1 No score
Security update for libpcap
This update for libpcap fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2025-11961: missing validation of provided MAC-48 address string in
pcap_ether_aton()can lead to out-of-bounds read and write (bsc#1255765). - CVE-2024-8006: missing return value check in
pcap_findalldevs_ex()can lead to NULL pointer dereference (bsc#1230034). - CVE-2023-7256: unclear value returned by
sock_initaddress()can lead to a double-free (bsc#1230020).
- Record
SUSE-SU-2026:20064-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
libpcapAzure Linux:3 |
before 1.10.5-1 | 1.10.5-1 |
nmapAzure Linux:3 |
before 7.95-2 | 7.95-2 |
libpcapAzure Linux:2 |
before 1.10.1-4 | 1.10.1-4 |
nmapAzure Linux:2 |
before 7.93-3 | 7.93-3 |
libpcapDebian:12 |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.10.3-11.10.4-11.10.4-21.10.4-31.10.4-4 Show 10 moreShow less1.10.4-4.11.10.4-4.1~exp11.10.4-51.10.4-5+hurd.11.10.5-11.10.5-21.10.6-11.10.6-21.10.7-11.11.0-1 |
None known |
libpcapDebian:13 |
before 1.10.5-1 | 1.10.5-1 |
libpcapDebian:14 |
before 1.10.5-1 | 1.10.5-1 |
libpcap_jllJulia |
before 1.10.5+0 | 1.10.5+0 |
libpcapMageia:9 |
before 1.10.5-1.mga9 | 1.10.5-1.mga9 |
libpcapopenEuler:22.03-LTS-SP1 |
before 1.10.1-4.oe2203sp1 | 1.10.1-4.oe2203sp1 |
Show 29 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
libpcapopenEuler:24.03-LTS |
before 1.10.4-2.oe2403 | 1.10.4-2.oe2403 |
libpcapopenEuler:22.03-LTS-SP4 |
before 1.10.3-2.oe2203sp4 | 1.10.3-2.oe2203sp4 |
libpcapopenEuler:22.03-LTS-SP3 |
before 1.10.3-2.oe2203sp3 | 1.10.3-2.oe2203sp3 |
libpcapopenEuler:20.03-LTS-SP4 |
before 1.9.1-7.oe2003sp4 | 1.9.1-7.oe2003sp4 |
libpcapRoot:Alpine:3.18 |
before 1.10.4-r10071 | 1.10.4-r100711.10.4-r100721.10.4-r100741.10.4-r100761.10.4-r100731.10.4-r10075 |
rootio-libpcapRoot:Alpine:3.18 |
before 1.10.4-r10071 | 1.10.4-r100711.10.4-r100721.10.4-r100741.10.4-r100761.10.4-r100731.10.4-r10075 |
libpcapRoot:Alpine:3.19 |
before 1.10.4-r10071 | 1.10.4-r100711.10.4-r100751.10.4-r100721.10.4-r100741.10.4-r10073 |
rootio-libpcapRoot:Alpine:3.19 |
before 1.10.4-r10071 | 1.10.4-r100711.10.4-r100751.10.4-r100721.10.4-r100741.10.4-r10073 |
libpcapRoot:Alpine:3.20 |
before 1.10.4-r10071 | 1.10.4-r100711.10.4-r100721.10.4-r100741.10.4-r100731.10.4-r10075 |
rootio-libpcapRoot:Alpine:3.20 |
before 1.10.4-r10071 | 1.10.4-r100711.10.4-r100721.10.4-r100741.10.4-r100731.10.4-r10075 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 |
before 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 | 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 |
before 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 | 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 |
before 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 | 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 |
before 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 | 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Package Hub 15 SP5 |
before 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 | 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 |
libpcapopenSUSE:Leap Micro 5.5 |
before 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 | 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 |
libpcapopenSUSE:Leap 15.5 |
before 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 | 1.10.1-150400.3.3.2 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 |
before 1.10.4-150600.3.3.2 | 1.10.4-150600.3.3.2 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Package Hub 15 SP6 |
before 1.10.4-150600.3.3.2 | 1.10.4-150600.3.3.2 |
libpcapopenSUSE:Leap 15.6 |
before 1.10.4-150600.3.3.2 | 1.10.4-150600.3.3.2 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP5 |
before 1.8.1-10.6.1 | 1.8.1-10.6.1 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 |
before 1.8.1-10.6.1 | 1.8.1-10.6.1 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 |
before 1.8.1-10.6.1 | 1.8.1-10.6.1 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 12 SP5 |
before 1.8.1-10.6.1 | 1.8.1-10.6.1 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.1 |
before 1.9.1-150300.3.3.1 | 1.9.1-150300.3.3.1 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 |
before 1.9.1-150300.3.3.1 | 1.9.1-150300.3.3.1 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Micro 6.0 |
before 1.10.4-3.1 | 1.10.4-3.1 |
libpcapSUSE:Linux Micro 6.1 |
before 1.10.4-slfo.1.1_2.1 | 1.10.4-slfo.1.1_2.1 |
libpcapopenSUSE:Tumbleweed |
before 1.10.5-1.1 | 1.10.5-1.1 |
History
| When | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-03 | published | EUVD |
| 2026-11-02 | created | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
References
github.com/the-tcpdump-group/libpcap/commit/262e4f34979872d822ccedf9f318ed89c4d31c03
github.com/the-tcpdump-group/libpcap/commit/2aa69b04d8173b18a0e3492e0c8f2f7fabdf642d
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-7256
github.com/advisories/GHSA-7m22-9mw3-j4pp
github.com/the-tcpdump-group/libpcap
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/7xxx/CVE-2023-7256.json
Show 18 moreShow less
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-7256
advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2024-0295.html
bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=33537
lwn.net/Articles/988357
openeuler.org/zh/security/security-bulletins/detail?id=openEuler-SA-2024-2180
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-8006
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2024/suse-su-20243210-1
bugzilla.suse.com/1230020
bugzilla.suse.com/1230034
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-7256
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-8006
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2024/suse-su-20243217-1
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2024/suse-su-20243355-1
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2024/suse-su-20243516-1
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2025/suse-su-202520059-1
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2026/suse-su-202620064-1
bugzilla.suse.com/1255765
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-11961