CVE-2023-38621
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes integer overflow vulnerabilities in GTKWave's VZT facgeometry parsing that can lead to arbitrary code execution when a malicious .vzt file is opened. Users of GTKWave 3.3.115 who open untrusted waveform files are affected. The vulnerability allows attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running GTKWave.
💻 Affected Systems
- GTKWave
📦 What is this software?
Gtkwave by Tonybybell
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Full system compromise via arbitrary code execution leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or malware execution when users open malicious waveform files from untrusted sources.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if file opening is restricted to trusted sources and least privilege principles are followed.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file). No public exploit code is available at this time.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Versions after 3.3.115
Vendor Advisory: https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/04/msg00007.html
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update GTKWave to the latest version from official sources. 2. For Debian systems: apt update && apt upgrade gtkwave. 3. Verify the update was successful by checking the version.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict .vzt file handling
allConfigure system to open .vzt files only with trusted applications or in sandboxed environments.
User awareness training
allTrain users to only open .vzt files from trusted sources and verify file integrity.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized GTKWave binaries.
- Use sandboxing solutions to isolate GTKWave when opening untrusted waveform files.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check GTKWave version: gtkwave --version. If version is 3.3.115, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
gtkwave --versionVerify Fix Applied:
After update, run gtkwave --version and confirm version is greater than 3.3.115.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual process creation from GTKWave
- Memory allocation errors in GTKWave logs
- Crash dumps from GTKWave
Network Indicators:
- None - this is a local file parsing vulnerability
SIEM Query:
Process Creation where Image contains 'gtkwave' and CommandLine contains '.vzt'🔗 References
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/04/msg00007.html
- https://talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2023-1812
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/04/msg00007.html
- https://talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2023-1812
- https://www.talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2023-1812
