Skip to main content
VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2023-38252: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · Out-of-bounds Read

Affects Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6Source CVE Database V5

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.7 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 12:54 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
4.7Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 29% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 14 Jul 2023

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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 26 Oct 2026.

What to do

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2023-38252, European organizations should first verify if w3m is installed and used on their Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 systems. If w3m is not required, consider uninstalling it to eliminate the attack surface. For systems where w3m is necessary, restrict local user permissions to limit who can execute the browser and open HTML files. Implement strict file handling policies to prevent users from opening untrusted or unsolicited HTML content. Employ application whitelisting and endpoint protection solutions to monitor and block suspicious activities involving w3m. Additionally, consider isolating legacy RHEL 6 systems from general user environments and restrict access via network segmentation. Regularly audit and monitor system logs for abnormal crashes or application failures related to w3m. Finally, educate users about the risks of opening untrusted HTML files, especially on legacy systems.

Description

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file.

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…