Remote code execution in w3m

1) Out-of-bounds write

EUVDB-ID: #VU70880

Risk: High

CVSSv3.1: 7.7 [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2022-38223

CWE-ID: CWE-787 - Out-of-bounds write

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to compromise vulnerable system.

The vulnerability exists due to a boundary error when processing untrusted HTML input within the checkType() function in etc.c. A remote attacker can create a specially crafted HTML file, trick the victim into opening it using the affected software, trigger out-of-bounds write and execute arbitrary code on the target system.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

w3m: 0.5.3

External links

http://github.com/tats/w3m/issues/242
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MKESIFZMWIFMI6DRGMUYOTVKBOSEKDXZ/
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/NRRZMTLG3YT6U3PSGJOAMLDNLRF2EUOP/

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

How the attacker can exploit this vulnerability?

The attacker would have to send a specially crafted request to the affected application in order to exploit this vulnerability.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.