CVE-2023-42366Public exploit

Process crash via trailing backslash in awk regex

Published Nov 27, 2023 · Updated Dec 6, 2024

A heap-buffer overflow in BusyBox awk 1.36.1 allows local users to crash the process with a crafted awk program file. In next_token, a trailing backslash in an invalid regular expression leaves the escape pointer unchanged, causing the parser to advance past the terminating NUL and read beyond the heap allocation. Reachability requires a user or process to invoke BusyBox awk on the malformed file; the demonstrated consequence is a process abort, with no published write primitive.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.41%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

A heap-buffer overflow in BusyBox awk 1.36.1 allows local users to crash the process with a crafted awk program file. In next_token, a trailing backslash in an invalid regular expression leaves the escape pointer unchanged, causing the parser to advance past the terminating NUL and read beyond the heap allocation. Reachability requires a user or process to invoke BusyBox awk on the malformed file; the demonstrated consequence is a process abort, with no published write primitive.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-42366
Published
Nov 27, 2023
Updated
Dec 6, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 27, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Dec 6, 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 privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

5.5UbuntuCVSS: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.

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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
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

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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