CVE-2023-37444: Out-of-Bounds Read Vulnerabilities in GTKWave 3.3.115

Overview

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system has issued an alert for a newly identified vulnerability, CVE-2023-37444, affecting GTKWave 3.3.115. This vulnerability pertains to multiple out-of-bounds read vulnerabilities found in the VCD var definition section functionality of the GTKWave software. These vulnerabilities pose significant risks, as they can lead to arbitrary code execution, consequently compromising systems and potentially leading to data leakage.
GTKWave is extensively used for viewing waveform data produced by digital logic simulators, and this vulnerability could impact a wide range of users, from individual developers to large organizations. It is essential to understand and mitigate this vulnerability to maintain the integrity and security of systems running GTKWave.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2023-37444
Severity: High (7.8 CVSS score)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise and data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

GTKWave | 3.3.115

How the Exploit Works

The vulnerability arises from the improper handling of specially crafted .vcd files in the VCD var definition section functionality of GTKWave. If a victim unknowingly opens a malicious .vcd file via the GUI’s interactive VCD parsing code, the out-of-bounds read vulnerabilities can be triggered, leading to arbitrary code execution.

Conceptual Example Code

While the specifics of the exploit are not publicly disclosed to prevent misuse, a conceptual scenario might involve a malicious actor crafting a .vcd file with specific parameters that cause an overflow when read by the GTKWave software. This could be akin to the following pseudocode:

# pseudo code for creating a malicious .vcd file
with open('malicious.vcd', 'w') as file:
file.write("$var reg 64 # overflow_size # overflow_data $end\n")

This pseudocode represents the creation of a .vcd file with an overflow_size that exceeds the expected size, leading to the out-of-bounds read vulnerability.

Mitigation

Users are advised to apply the patch provided by the vendor as soon as possible. In the interim, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be used as a temporary mitigation measure to detect and prevent any attempted exploits of this vulnerability.