CVE-2023-2203 – CVE-2023-2203 is a use-after-free vulnerability... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-2203?

CVE-2023-2203 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). CVE-2023-2203 is a use-after-free vulnerability in WebKitGTK caused by improper input validation. Attackers can exploit this by delivering specially crafted web content, potentially leading to denial of service or arbitrary code execution. This affects Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 and 9.2 systems running WebKitGTK due to a security regression from CVE-2023-28205.

📋 TL;DR

CVE-2023-2203 is a use-after-free vulnerability in WebKitGTK caused by improper input validation. Attackers can exploit this by delivering specially crafted web content, potentially leading to denial of service or arbitrary code execution. This affects Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 and 9.2 systems running WebKitGTK due to a security regression from CVE-2023-28205.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

WebKitGTK

Versions: Versions in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 and 9.2 (specific to the regression from CVE-2023-28205)

Operating Systems: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: This is specifically a security regression affecting RHEL 8.8 and 9.2 where previous fixes for CVE-2023-28205 were incomplete or reverted.

📦 What is this software?

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution with the privileges of the WebKitGTK process, potentially leading to full system compromise.

🟠

Likely Case

Denial of service through application crashes, with possible information disclosure or limited code execution.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact if systems are patched, isolated, or have additional security controls like sandboxing.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - WebKitGTK is used in web browsers and applications that process untrusted web content from the internet.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Internal users could exploit via malicious internal web content, but attack surface is smaller than internet-facing.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires delivering malicious web content, which could be done via websites, emails, or files. No public exploit code is known at this time.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Update to WebKitGTK packages provided in RHSA-2023:2653 and RHSA-2023:3108

Vendor Advisory: https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:2653

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update WebKitGTK packages using yum: sudo yum update webkit2gtk3. 2. Restart any applications using WebKitGTK (e.g., web browsers). 3. Verify the update with rpm -q webkit2gtk3.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable WebKitGTK in applications

linux

If possible, configure applications to not use WebKitGTK for rendering web content.

Network segmentation

all

Restrict network access to systems running vulnerable WebKitGTK versions.

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Isolate affected systems from untrusted networks and users.
Implement application sandboxing or privilege reduction for WebKitGTK processes.

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check if WebKitGTK version is vulnerable: rpm -q webkit2gtk3 and compare to patched versions in RHSA advisories.

Check Version:

rpm -q webkit2gtk3

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify WebKitGTK package version is updated: rpm -q webkit2gtk3 should show version with fix from RHSA-2023:2653 or later.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Application crashes in WebKitGTK processes
Unexpected process terminations in system logs

Network Indicators:

Unusual network traffic to/from applications using WebKitGTK

SIEM Query:

Process termination events for webkit2gtk3 or related processes with crash signatures

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-2203

CVSS v3 Score: 8.8 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE: CWE-416

Published: May 17, 2023

Last Updated: January 22, 2025

🔗 References

https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:2653 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:3108 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-2203 Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2188543 Issue Tracking,Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:2653 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:3108 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-2203 Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2188543 Issue Tracking,Third Party Advisory

📤 Share & Export

📄 Export Markdown 📋 Export JSON

🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

If you're affected by CVE-2023-2203, you might also want to check these: