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CVE-2023-38252

W3m: out of bounds read in strnew_size() at w3m/str.c

4.7 MediumFix available

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
Required

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

0.36%Up 0.3 points since Jul 15, 2023
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 4.7

W3m: out of bounds read in strnew_size() at w3m/str.c

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file.

Record
CVE-2023-38252
CVSS 3.1
4.7 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-125
Updated
2026-11-07
EUVDEUVD-2023-42072 4.7

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file.

Record
EUVD-2023-42072
CVSS 3.1
4.7 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-07
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-h4j6-fwm6-vv32 4.7

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may...

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file.

Record
GHSA-h4j6-fwm6-vv32
CVSS 3.1
4.7 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-125
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 4.7

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file.

Record
CVE-2023-38252
CVSS 3.1
4.7 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 3.1
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-125
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2023-38252 5.5

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file.

Record
ALPINE-CVE-2023-38252
CVSS 3.1
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-03
OSV 4.7

W3m: out of bounds read in strnew_size() at w3m/str.c

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file.

Record
CVE-2023-38252
CVSS 3.1
4.7 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-125
Updated
2026-11-02
Show 5 moreShow less
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2023-38252 5.5

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2023-38252
CVSS 3.1
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2023-38252 4.7

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2023-38252
CVSS 3.1
4.7 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 3.1
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2024-0105 No score

Updated w3m packages fix security vulnerabilities

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file. (CVE-2023-38252) An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the growbuf_to_Str function in indep.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file. (CVE-2023-38253) An out-of-bounds write issue has been discovered in the backspace handling of the checkType() function in etc.c within the W3M application. This vulnerability is triggered by supplying a specially crafted HTML file to the w3m binary. Exploitation of this flaw could lead to application crashes, resulting in a denial of service condition. (CVE-2023-4255)

Record
MGASA-2024-0105
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:13138-1 No score

w3m-0.5.3+git20230121-2.1 on GA media

These are all security issues fixed in the w3m-0.5.3+git20230121-2.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.

Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:13138-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2023:4439-1 No score

Security update for w3m

This update for w3m fixes the following issues:

  • Update to version 0.5.3+git20230121
  • CVE-2023-38252: Fixed an out-of-bounds write in function Strnew_size that allows attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted HTML file. (bsc#1213324)
  • CVE-2023-38253: Fixed an out-of-bounds write in function growbuf_to_Str that allows attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted HTML file. (bsc#1213323)
Record
SUSE-SU-2023:4439-1
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
w3m
Alpine:v3.18
 before 0.5.3.20230718-r0
0.5.3.20230718-r0
w3m
Alpine:v3.19
 before 0.5.3.20230718-r0
0.5.3.20230718-r0
w3m
Alpine:v3.20
 before 0.5.3.20230718-r0
0.5.3.20230718-r0
w3m
Alpine:v3.21
 before 0.5.3.20230718-r0
0.5.3.20230718-r0
w3m
Alpine:v3.22
 before 0.5.3_git20241203-r0
0.5.3_git20241203-r0
w3m
Alpine:v3.23
 before 0.5.3_git20241203-r0
0.5.3_git20241203-r0
w3m
Alpine:v3.24
 before 0.5.3_git20241203-r0
0.5.3_git20241203-r0
w3m
Debian:12
 All versions, plus listed versions
0.5.3+git20230121-20.5.3+git20230121-2.10.5.3+git20230121-2.20.5.3+git20230121-2.3
 None known
w3m
Debian:13
 All versions, plus listed versions
0.5.3+git20230121-2.10.5.3+git20230121-2.20.5.3+git20230121-2.3
 None known
w3m
Debian:14
 All versions, plus listed versions
0.5.3+git20230121-2.10.5.3+git20230121-2.20.5.3+git20230121-2.3
 None known
Show 12 moreShow less
Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
w3m
Mageia:9
From an advisory covering 3 CVEs
 before 0.5.3-13.git20230121.1.mga9
0.5.3-13.git20230121.1.mga9
w3m
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP4
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
 before 0.5.3+git20230121-150000.3.6.1
0.5.3+git20230121-150000.3.6.1
w3m
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
 before 0.5.3+git20230121-150000.3.6.1
0.5.3+git20230121-150000.3.6.1
w3m
openSUSE:Leap 15.4
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
 before 0.5.3+git20230121-150000.3.6.1
0.5.3+git20230121-150000.3.6.1
w3m
openSUSE:Leap 15.5
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
 before 0.5.3+git20230121-150000.3.6.1
0.5.3+git20230121-150000.3.6.1
w3m
Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS
 All versions, plus listed versions
0.5.3-110.5.3-120.5.3-130.5.3-150.5.3-15ubuntu0.10.5.3-15ubuntu0.20.5.3-15ubuntu0.2+esm10.5.3-15ubuntu0.2+esm2
 None known
w3m
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS
 All versions, plus listed versions
0.5.3-240.5.3-250.5.3-260.5.3-26build10.5.3-26ubuntu0.10.5.3-26ubuntu0.2
 None known
w3m
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS
 before 0.5.3-36ubuntu0.1+esm1, plus listed versions
0.5.3-340.5.3-34.10.5.3-350.5.3-360.5.3-36build10.5.3-36ubuntu0.1
0.5.3-36ubuntu0.1+esm1
w3m
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS
 before 0.5.3-37ubuntu0.2, plus listed versions
0.5.3-370.5.3-37ubuntu0.1
0.5.3-37ubuntu0.2
w3m
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS
 before 0.5.3+git20210102-6ubuntu0.2, plus listed versions
0.5.3+git20210102-6build10.5.3+git20210102-6build20.5.3+git20210102-6build30.5.3+git20210102-6ubuntu0.1
0.5.3+git20210102-6ubuntu0.2
w3m
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS
 before 0.5.3+git20230121-2ubuntu1, plus listed versions
0.5.3+git20230121-2
0.5.3+git20230121-2ubuntu1
w3m
openSUSE:Tumbleweed
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
 before 0.5.3+git20230121-2.1
0.5.3+git20230121-2.1

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
affected, facts
affectedOSV
first indexedCVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2023-38252 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 4.7) in Tats W3m, published July 14, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.36%, the 29th percentile. Fixed in w3m 0.5.3.20230718-r0.

References

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