CVE-2023-37443: Critical Out-of-Bounds Read Vulnerabilities in GTKWave 3.3.115

Overview

Cybersecurity professionals should be aware of a recently disclosed vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-37443, which affects GTKWave version 3.3.115. This vulnerability has been classified as critical due to its potential to enable arbitrary code execution, leading to system compromise or data leakage. The vulnerability lies in the software’s VCD var definition section, and exploitation requires user interaction, specifically opening a malicious .vcd file. Therefore, the risk is substantial for users who frequently interact with .vcd files.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2023-37443
Severity: High (7.8 CVSS)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: User
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Arbitrary code execution, potential system compromise, and data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

GTKWave | 3.3.115

How the Exploit Works

The exploit takes advantage of multiple out-of-bounds read vulnerabilities within the VCD var definition section of GTKWave. An attacker can design a specially crafted .vcd file to trigger these vulnerabilities, resulting in arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability is specifically located in the GUI’s legacy VCD parsing code. Once the malicious .vcd file is opened by a user, the crafted code is executed, potentially leading to a full system compromise or data leakage.

Conceptual Example Code

In the given context, a conceptual example of exploiting this vulnerability might involve creating a malicious .vcd file which contains specially crafted data designed to trigger an out-of-bounds read. This could be represented in pseudocode as such:

# Pseudocode representation of malicious .vcd file
class MaliciousVCD:
def __init__(self):
self.data = self.create_malicious_data()
def create_malicious_data(self):
# Craft data that triggers out-of-bounds read in GTKWave's VCD parsing
data = "..."
return data
# Create and save malicious .vcd file
malicious_vcd = MaliciousVCD()
save_file(malicious_vcd, "malicious.vcd")

Please note that this is a simplified representation. The actual creation of malicious data would require detailed knowledge of the specific vulnerabilities in the VCD parsing code of GTKWave.