CVE-2023-38252Public exploit

Browser crash via malformed HTML conversion

Published Jul 14, 2023 · Updated Nov 21, 2025

Out-of-bounds read in Strnew_size in w3m 0.5.3+git20230129 allows attackers to crash the browser via a crafted HTML file. Processing the file through _saveBuffer and wc_conv_to_ces reaches Strnew_size, where GC_malloc_kind_global dereferences an invalid high address. The attacker must persuade a user to open or dump the file; the demonstrated consequence is process termination, not data disclosure or code execution.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.36%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Out-of-bounds read in Strnew_size in w3m 0.5.3+git20230129 allows attackers to crash the browser via a crafted HTML file. Processing the file through _saveBuffer and wc_conv_to_ces reaches Strnew_size, where GC_malloc_kind_global dereferences an invalid high address. The attacker must persuade a user to open or dump the file; the demonstrated consequence is process termination, not data disclosure or code execution.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-38252
Published
Jul 14, 2023
Updated
Nov 21, 2025
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-125, T1204.002
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 14, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Nov 21, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

4.7Red Hat, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-125Out-of-bounds Read
T1204.002Malicious File

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo