CVE-2023-5138VulnerabilityPublished 3 Jan 2024Updated 3 Jun 2025

CVE-2023-5138: silabs.com GSDK · EM-FI

Affects silabs.com GSDKSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.8 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.8Medium

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 19% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

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

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

Attack Vector: Physical: The attack requires the attacker to physically touch or manipulate the vulnerable component. Physical interaction may be brief or persistent.
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: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to 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 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 2026-10-25.

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

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubsiliconlabs/gecko_sdk`pkg:github/siliconlabs/gecko_sdk`Other threats	Affected =1.0	Fixed in–

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

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2023-5138 effectively, European organizations should: 1) Review and update device firmware and configurations to ensure glitch detection features are explicitly enabled on all affected Silicon Labs microcontrollers, particularly the EFx32xG2xB series. 2) Engage with Silicon Labs for official patches or updated SDK versions that enable glitch detection by default or provide enhanced fault injection protections. 3) Implement physical security controls to restrict unauthorized physical access to devices, including tamper-evident seals, secure enclosures, and monitored access in sensitive deployments. 4) Conduct security audits and penetration testing focusing on fault injection resistance, especially for devices deployed in critical environments. 5) Monitor vendor advisories and threat intelligence feeds for updates on exploit developments or additional mitigations. 6) For new deployments, consider hardware alternatives or configurations that have glitch detection enabled by default or stronger fault injection countermeasures. 7) Incorporate fault injection attack awareness into security training for embedded system developers and operational staff to ensure proper configuration and handling.

Description

Glitch detection is not enabled by default for the CortexM33 core in Silicon Labs secure vault high parts EFx32xG2xB, except EFR32xG21B.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2023-5138 can be significant, particularly for industries relying on Silicon Labs' secure microcontrollers in critical infrastructure, IoT deployments, and industrial automation. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data (confidentiality impact), manipulation of device behavior (integrity impact), and potential denial of service (availability impact). This could compromise the security of connected devices, leading to broader network infiltration or disruption of services. Given the physical access requirement, the threat is more relevant in environments where devices are deployed in accessible or unprotected locations, such as smart city infrastructure, manufacturing plants, or remote monitoring systems. The medium severity rating suggests that while the vulnerability is serious, the attack complexity and physical access requirement reduce the likelihood of widespread exploitation. However, the strategic importance of affected devices in sectors like energy, transportation, and healthcare in Europe means that targeted attacks could have outsized consequences. Additionally, the lack of default glitch detection increases the risk that devices are shipped or deployed in vulnerable configurations, raising the potential exposure.

CWE-1319Improper Protection against Electromagnetic Fault Injection (EM-FI) (opens in a new tab)
Base weakness
The device is susceptible to electromagnetic fault injection attacks, causing device internal information to be compromised or security mechanisms to be bypassed.
Architecture and Design · Implementation
1. Redundancy - By replicating critical operations and comparing the two outputs can help indicate whether a fault has been injected.; 2. Error detection and correction codes - Gay, Mael, et al.
Attack patterns
Mobile Device Fault Injection (opens in a new tab)
Hardware Fault Injection (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Jul 2025, 02:25 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-1319

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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