#VU70880 Out-of-bounds write in w3m - CVE-2022-38223

Vulnerability identifier: #VU70880

Vulnerability risk: High

CVSSv4.0: 6.1 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Amber]

CVE-ID: CVE-2022-38223

CWE-ID: CWE-787

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
w3m
Server applications / Web servers

Vendor: w3m.sourceforge.net

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to compromise vulnerable system.

The vulnerability exists due to a boundary error when processing untrusted HTML input within the checkType() function in etc.c. A remote attacker can create a specially crafted HTML file, trick the victim into opening it using the affected software, trigger out-of-bounds write and execute arbitrary code on the target system.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

w3m: 0.5.3

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External links
http://github.com/tats/w3m/issues/242
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MKESIFZMWIFMI6DRGMUYOTVKBOSEKDXZ/
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/NRRZMTLG3YT6U3PSGJOAMLDNLRF2EUOP/

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.