{"id":37014,"date":"2025-05-10T23:07:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T23:07:23","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-06-06T05:17:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T11:17:46","slug":"cve-2023-38583-stack-based-buffer-overflow-vulnerability-in-gtkwave-3-3-115","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2023-38583-stack-based-buffer-overflow-vulnerability-in-gtkwave-3-3-115\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2023-38583: Stack-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability in GTKWave 3.3.115<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The CVE-2023-38583 vulnerability is a critical flaw in the GTKWave 3.3.115 software that could potentially lead to arbitrary code execution, system compromise, and data leakage. The vulnerability is triggered when a user opens a malicious .lxt2 file, allowing attackers to exploit a stack-based buffer overflow in the LXT2 lxt2_rd_expand_integer_to_bits function. This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-1290-high-severity-race-condition-use-after-free-vulnerability-in-kernel-5-4-on-chromeos\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"41763\">vulnerability carries a significant severity<\/a> score of 7.8 and could affect a wide array of systems and users, particularly those who routinely handle .lxt2 files in their workflows.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2023-38583<br \/>\nSeverity: High &#8211; CVSS score 7.8<br \/>\nAttack Vector: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-43951-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability-in-labvantage-prior-to-lv-8-8-0-13-hf6\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"41738\">Local file<\/a><br \/>\nPrivileges Required: None<br \/>\nUser Interaction: Required<br \/>\nImpact: Arbitrary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-32444-remote-code-execution-vulnerability-in-vllm-integration-with-mooncake\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"41876\">code execution<\/a>, potential system compromise, and data leakage<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-3100632732\" 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>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-3820-critical-buffer-overflow-vulnerability-in-tenda-w12-and-i24-routers\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"41714\">vulnerability is a classic example of a stack-based buffer overflow<\/a>. The offending function, lxt2_rd_expand_integer_to_bits, does not properly handle certain .lxt2 files, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2023-38620-integer-overflow-vulnerabilities-in-gtkwave-3-3-115-leading-to-arbitrary-code-execution\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"43222\">leading to an overflow<\/a> condition. This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2023-49129-stack-overflow-vulnerability-in-solid-edge-se2023-allows-potential-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"43514\">overflow can overwrite other data on the stack<\/a>, including function return addresses. If an attacker crafts a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2023-35989-integer-overflow-vulnerability-in-gtkwave-s-lxt2-zlib-block-allocation\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"41935\">.lxt2 file to cause this overflow<\/a> and overwrite the return address with a pointer to malicious code, they can execute arbitrary code.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-4065233357\" 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>While the exact details of the exploit are beyond the scope of this article, a conceptual <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-11861-critical-command-injection-vulnerability-in-enersys-ampa-granting-privileged-remote-shell-access\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"45237\">shell command<\/a> that demonstrates the basic idea might look like this:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\">$ gtkwave malicious.lxt2<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>In this example, `malicious.lxt2` is a specially crafted .lxt2 file that triggers the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-3854-critical-buffer-overflow-vulnerability-in-h3c-gr-3000ax\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"41715\">buffer overflow<\/a> and executes the attacker&#8217;s code. Note that this is a simplified representation and the actual process would likely involve more complex manipulations of the stack memory.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mitigation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Users of GTKWave 3.3.115 are advised to apply the vendor patch as soon as it becomes available. In the meantime, the utilization of a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can offer temporary mitigation until the patch can be applied. These security measures can help detect and block attempts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-47154-exploitation-of-use-after-free-vulnerability-in-libjs-in-ladybird\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"42364\">exploit this vulnerability<\/a>.<br \/>\nIn general, all users, regardless of whether they are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-48205-insecure-direct-object-reference-vulnerability-in-sr-feuser-register-extension-for-typo3\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"55143\">directly affected by this vulnerability<\/a>, should remain vigilant and exercise caution when opening files from untrusted sources. This includes verifying the source of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-0984-critical-file-upload-and-xss-vulnerability-in-netoloji-software-e-flow\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"43971\">files and using up-to-date security software<\/a> to scan files for potential threats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview The CVE-2023-38583 vulnerability is a critical flaw in the GTKWave 3.3.115 software that could potentially lead to arbitrary code execution, system compromise, and data leakage. The vulnerability is triggered when a user opens a malicious .lxt2 file, allowing attackers to exploit a stack-based buffer overflow in the LXT2 lxt2_rd_expand_integer_to_bits function. This vulnerability carries a [&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-37014","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\/37014","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=37014"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49280,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37014\/revisions\/49280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37014"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=37014"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=37014"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=37014"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=37014"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=37014"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=37014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}