CVE-2023-3428VulnerabilityPublished 4 Oct 2023Updated 20 Nov 2025

CVE-2023-3428: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · Heap-based Buffer Overflow

Affects Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.2 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 07:57 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.2Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 24% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 Oct 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

European organizations should prioritize upgrading from Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 to a supported version where the vulnerability is patched. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, organizations should apply any available patches from Red Hat as soon as they are released. Restricting the processing of untrusted TIFF files is critical; implement strict file validation and sandboxing for image processing applications. Employ application whitelisting and limit user permissions to reduce the risk of local exploitation. Monitoring and alerting on application crashes related to ImageMagick can help detect exploitation attempts. Consider isolating legacy systems from critical networks and restricting local access to trusted personnel only. Regularly review and update incident response plans to address potential denial of service scenarios. Finally, educate users about the risks of opening untrusted image files, even locally.

Description

A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability was found in coders/tiff.c in ImageMagick. This issue may allow a local attacker to trick the user into opening a specially crafted file, resulting in an application crash and denial of service.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact is denial of service caused by application crashes when processing malicious TIFF files. This can disrupt business operations, especially in sectors relying on automated image processing or document workflows involving TIFF images. While the vulnerability does not lead to data breaches or code execution, service interruptions can affect availability of critical systems. Organizations running legacy Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 systems, common in some government, industrial, or financial institutions, are particularly vulnerable. Disruption in these environments could delay services or impact operational continuity. The local attack vector limits remote exploitation, but insider threats or compromised user accounts could leverage this vulnerability. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but the medium severity rating and potential for DoS warrant proactive mitigation. Additionally, the use of outdated operating systems increases overall security risk and complicates incident response.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 20 Nov 2025, 17:46 UTC

Technical details

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