Local crash via unchecked null configuration token
Published Mar 27, 2024 · Updated Nov 4, 2025
Null pointer dereference in SANE Project sane-backends 1.2.1 allows local users to crash scanimage via a crafted configuration file. The sanei_configure_attach() parser passes a null token returned by sanei_config_get_string() to strncmp() when an invalid line yields no token. Exploitation requires scanimage to load an attacker-controlled backend configuration file, a condition disputed as outside the expected trust model; the demonstrated consequence is a process crash, not arbitrary code execution.
Summary
What happened
Null pointer dereference in SANE Project sane-backends 1.2.1 allows local users to crash scanimage via a crafted configuration file. The sanei_configure_attach() parser passes a null token returned by sanei_config_get_string() to strncmp() when an invalid line yields no token. Exploitation requires scanimage to load an attacker-controlled backend configuration file, a condition disputed as outside the expected trust model; the demonstrated consequence is a process crash, not arbitrary code execution.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-46047
- Published
- Mar 27, 2024
- Updated
- Nov 4, 2025
- Vendor
- SANE Project
- Product
- sane-backends
- Classifications
- CWE-20, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 27, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Nov 4, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=1.2.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Public exploit references
- xerox_mfp.conf proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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