CVE-2023-38678VulnerabilityPublished 3 Jan 2024Updated 3 Jun 2025

CVE-2023-38678: PaddlePaddle · Out-of-bounds Read

Affects PaddlePaddleSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.7 Medium : upgrade to 2.6.0 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 08:30 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.7Medium

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

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 41% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 2.6.0

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: Low

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
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: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
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: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 3 Jan 2024
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 26 Oct 2026.

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

Upgrade PaddlePaddle to 2.6.0.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
PyPIpaddlepaddle`pkg:pypi/paddlepaddle`Other threats	Affected <2.6.0	Fixed in 2.6.0

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

European organizations should prioritize upgrading PaddlePaddle to version 2.6.0 or later, where this vulnerability is addressed. If you cannot patch yet, organizations should implement strict input validation and sanitization to minimize the risk of triggering out-of-bounds reads. Monitoring and logging should be enhanced to detect abnormal crashes or service interruptions related to paddle.mode usage. Deploying PaddlePaddle within isolated or sandboxed environments can limit the impact of potential crashes on broader systems. Additionally, organizations should educate users and developers about the risk of triggering this vulnerability through specific interactions and restrict access to PaddlePaddle interfaces to trusted personnel only. Regularly reviewing and applying security advisories from Baidu and the PaddlePaddle community is essential to stay updated on patches and mitigations.

Description

OOB access in paddle.mode in PaddlePaddle before 2.6.0. This flaw can cause a runtime crash and a denial of service.

Impact

For European organizations leveraging PaddlePaddle for AI development, research, or production, this vulnerability poses a risk of service disruption due to denial of service. AI workloads are often critical for data analysis, automation, and decision-making processes; thus, unexpected crashes can lead to operational downtime, loss of productivity, and potential delays in delivering AI-driven services. While the vulnerability does not allow data leakage or unauthorized code execution, the availability impact can be significant in environments where continuous AI processing is essential, such as financial institutions, healthcare providers, and manufacturing sectors. Additionally, organizations relying on cloud-based AI services that incorporate PaddlePaddle may experience cascading effects if the underlying platform crashes. The requirement for user interaction to trigger the vulnerability somewhat limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk, especially in environments where users or automated systems interact with vulnerable components.

CWE-125Out-of-bounds Read (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessCWE Top 25 (2025): #8
The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Use a language that provides appropriate memory abstractions.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Overread Buffers (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

github.com/PaddlePaddle/Paddle/blob/develop/security/advisory/pdsa-2023-010.md (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Jul 2025, 03:57 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-125

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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