{"id":34888,"date":"2025-05-05T19:16:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T19:16:17","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-08-31T18:37:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T00:37:57","slug":"cve-2023-35958-heap-based-buffer-overflow-vulnerability-in-gtkwave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2023-35958-heap-based-buffer-overflow-vulnerability-in-gtkwave\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2023-35958: Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability in GTKWave<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The vulnerability CVE-2023-35958 is a serious cybersecurity threat that affects GTKWave version 3.3.115, a popular open-source waveform viewer. This vulnerability exposes systems to potential compromise and data leakage, presenting a significant risk to users who open malicious .fst files. The importance of this issue cannot be overstated, especially in an era where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-49835-memory-corruption-vulnerability-leading-to-potential-data-leakage-or-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"58422\">data privacy and system<\/a> integrity are of utmost concern to businesses and individuals alike.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2023-35958<br \/>\nSeverity: High (7.8 CVSS Score)<br \/>\nAttack Vector: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-2101-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability-in-edumall-wordpress-theme\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"40704\">Local File<\/a><br \/>\nPrivileges Required: None<br \/>\nUser Interaction: Required<br \/>\nImpact: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-32857-sql-injection-vulnerability-in-telecontrol-server-basic-leading-to-potential-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"39768\">Potential system<\/a> compromise or data leakage<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-238145950\" class=\"ameeb-content-2 ameeb-entity-placement\"><div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #555; padding-left: 20px; margin: 48px 0; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #ffffff; line-height: 1.6; max-width: 700px;\">\r\n  <h2 style=\"margin-top: 0; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; display: flex; align-items: center;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; margin-right: 8px;\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Best-App-icon-Ameeba.png\" alt=\"Ameeba Chat Icon\" style=\"width: 40px; height: 40px;\" \/>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    A new way to communicate\r\n  <\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 12px;\">\r\n    Ameeba Chat is built on encrypted identity, not personal profiles.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 16px;\">\r\n    Message, call, share files, and coordinate with identities kept separate.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <ul style=\"list-style: none; padding-left: 0; margin-bottom: 20px;\">\r\n    <li>\u2022 Encrypted identity<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Ameeba Chat authenticates access<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Aliases and categories<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 End-to-end encrypted chat, calls, and files<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Secure notes for sensitive information<\/li>\r\n  <\/ul>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"font-style: italic; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\r\n    Private communication, rethought.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <div style=\"display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 12px;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\/download\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Download Ameeba Chat<\/a>\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"border: 1px solid #ffffff; color: #ffffff; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Learn More<\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n<p>GTKWave | 3.3.115<\/p>\n<p><strong>How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2023-34436-critical-out-of-bounds-write-vulnerability-in-gtkwave-3-3-115\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"41048\">vulnerability lies in the fstReaderIterBlocks2 VCDATA parsing functionality of GTKWave<\/a>. Multiple heap-based <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-28024-buffer-overflow-vulnerability-in-totolink-a810r-v4-1-2cu-5182-b20201026\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"39562\">buffer overflow vulnerabilities<\/a> exist, which can be exploited through a specially-crafted .fst file.<br \/>\nWhen a victim opens this malicious file, the `fstFread` copy function is compromised, leading to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-40446-arbitrary-code-execution-vulnerability-in-forkosh-mime-tex\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"39850\">arbitrary code execution<\/a>. The successful exploitation of this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2023-44755-critical-sql-injection-vulnerability-in-sacco-management-system-v1-0\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"39625\">vulnerability can lead to system<\/a> compromise or data leakage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-759851707\" class=\"ameeb-content ameeb-entity-placement\"><div class=\"poptin-embedded\" data-id=\"f6b387694f681\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Here is a conceptual example of how this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-47154-exploitation-of-use-after-free-vulnerability-in-libjs-in-ladybird\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"58423\">vulnerability might be exploited<\/a>. This pseudocode represents the creation of a malicious .fst file:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\"># Pseudocode to create a malicious .fst file\ndef create_malicious_fst():\n# Create a specially-crafted .fst file\nmalicious_fst = open(&quot;malicious.fst&quot;, &quot;w&quot;)\n# Write a large amount of data to overflow the heap buffer\nmalicious_fst.write(&#039;A&#039; * 10000)\n# This could potentially lead to arbitrary code execution\nmalicious_fst.write(&#039;\\x90&#039; * 1000 + shellcode)\nmalicious_fst.close()\n# Shellcode would contain the malicious instructions for arbitrary code execution\nshellcode = &quot;\\x31\\xc0\\x50\\x68\\x2f\\x2f\\x73\\x68\\x68\\x2f\\x62\\x69\\x6e\\x89\\xe3\\x50\\x53\\x89\\xe1\\xb0\\x0b\\xcd\\x80&quot;\ncreate_malicious_fst()<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>Please note that this is a hypothetical example and should not be used for any malicious activities. It&#8217;s provided for educational purposes only, to understand the nature of the vulnerability.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to Mitigate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The most effective <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-43971-critical-vulnerability-in-gobgp-paving-the-way-for-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"40120\">way to mitigate this vulnerability<\/a> is to apply the patch provided by the vendor. In the absence of a patch, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) could be used as a temporary measure to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20217-denial-of-service-vulnerability-in-snort-3-detection-engine-of-cisco-secure-firewall-threat-defense-software\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"77024\">detect and prevent exploitation of this vulnerability<\/a>. However, these measures are not fail-safe and can only serve as temporary solutions until a patch is applied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview The vulnerability CVE-2023-35958 is a serious cybersecurity threat that affects GTKWave version 3.3.115, a popular open-source waveform viewer. This vulnerability exposes systems to potential compromise and data leakage, presenting a significant risk to users who open malicious .fst files. The importance of this issue cannot be overstated, especially in an era where data privacy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[],"product":[],"attack_vector":[86,80],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-34888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","attack_vector-buffer-overflow","attack_vector-rce"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34888"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69417,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34888\/revisions\/69417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34888"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=34888"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=34888"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=34888"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=34888"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=34888"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=34888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}