CVE-2023-48105
📋 TL;DR
A heap overflow vulnerability in Bytecode Alliance's wasm-micro-runtime version 1.2.3 allows remote attackers to cause denial of service by exploiting the wasm_loader_prepare_bytecode function. This affects any system running the vulnerable WebAssembly runtime, potentially disrupting services that rely on WebAssembly execution.
💻 Affected Systems
- Bytecode Alliance wasm-micro-runtime
📦 What is this software?
Webassembly Micro Runtime by Bytecodealliance
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise if heap overflow can be leveraged for arbitrary code execution.
Likely Case
Denial of service through application crashes or instability when processing malicious WebAssembly modules.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper input validation and memory protections in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires crafting malicious WebAssembly modules to trigger the heap overflow.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Fixed in commit 4785d91b16dd49c09a96835de2d9c7b077543fa4 and later versions
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasm-micro-runtime/issues/2726
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update wasm-micro-runtime to latest version from GitHub. 2. Rebuild any applications using the runtime. 3. Restart affected services.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable untrusted WebAssembly execution
allPrevent execution of untrusted WebAssembly modules to block exploitation vectors.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict input validation for WebAssembly modules before processing.
- Deploy memory protection mechanisms like ASLR and DEP to limit exploit impact.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if wasm-micro-runtime version is 1.2.3 using version check command or build metadata.Check Version:
Check build configuration or runtime initialization output for version information.Verify Fix Applied:
Verify runtime version is updated beyond commit 4785d91b16dd49c09a96835de2d9c7b077543fa4.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes, segmentation faults, or abnormal termination when processing WebAssembly modules
Network Indicators:
- Unusual WebAssembly module uploads or execution requests
SIEM Query:
Search for process termination events related to wasm-micro-runtime or WebAssembly execution.🔗 References
- http://bytecode.com
- http://wasm-micro-runtime.com
- https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasm-micro-runtime/issues/2726
- https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasm-micro-runtime/pull/2734/commits/4785d91b16dd49c09a96835de2d9c7b077543fa4
- http://bytecode.com
- http://wasm-micro-runtime.com
- https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasm-micro-runtime/issues/2726
- https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasm-micro-runtime/pull/2734/commits/4785d91b16dd49c09a96835de2d9c7b077543fa4
