CVE-2023-39742Public exploit

Local utility crash via missing argument check

Published Aug 25, 2023 · Updated Oct 2, 2024

Argument parsing in giflib 5.2.1 command-line utilities allows local users to crash the invoked utility with malformed arguments. GAGetParmeters in getarg.c passes a missing option argument to sscanf after advancing beyond the end of argv instead of rejecting the incomplete option. The documented gif2rgb -s invocation dereferences a null argument and terminates only that command-line process, not applications using the library.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.35%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Argument parsing in giflib 5.2.1 command-line utilities allows local users to crash the invoked utility with malformed arguments. GAGetParmeters in getarg.c passes a missing option argument to sscanf after advancing beyond the end of argv instead of rejecting the incomplete option. The documented gif2rgb -s invocation dereferences a null argument and terminates only that command-line process, not applications using the library.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-39742
Published
Aug 25, 2023
Updated
Oct 2, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-120
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 25, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 2, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

5.5Canonical UbuntuCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-120Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input ('Classic Buffer Overflow')

Public exploit references

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

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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