CVE-2023-38623
📋 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
Complete 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
No impact if users only open trusted files or the application is patched.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction to open malicious file. No public exploit code identified in references.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Check Debian security updates or upstream GTKWave repository for patched version.
Vendor Advisory: https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/04/msg00007.html
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update GTKWave through your package manager (apt update && apt upgrade gtkwave on Debian/Ubuntu). 2. For source installations, download and compile latest version from official repository. 3. Verify version after update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict .vzt file handling
allConfigure system to open .vzt files with alternative software or require user confirmation.
User awareness training
allTrain users to only open .vzt files from trusted sources.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict user permissions running GTKWave to minimize impact of potential code execution.
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized binaries from GTKWave process.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check GTKWave version: gtkwave --version. If version is 3.3.115 or potentially earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
gtkwave --versionVerify Fix Applied:
After update, run gtkwave --version and confirm version is newer than 3.3.115. Test with known safe .vzt files.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- GTKWave crash logs when processing .vzt files
- Unexpected child processes spawned from gtkwave
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected outbound connections from GTKWave process
SIEM Query:
process_name:gtkwave AND (event_type:crash OR child_process_count > 1)🔗 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
