CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-20032 — Cisco Secure Endpoint security vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.8

On Feb 15, 2023, the following vulnerability in the ClamAV scanning library was disclosed: A vulnerability in the HFS+ partition file parser of ClamAV versions 1.0.0 and earlier, 0.105.1 and earlier, and 0.103.7 and earlier could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code. This vulnerability is due to a missing buffer size check that may result in a heap buffer overflow write. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted HFS+ partition file to be scanned by ClamAV on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the ClamAV scanning process, or else crash the process, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. For a description of this vulnerability, see the ClamAV blog ["https://blog.clamav.net/"].

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Published
2023-03-01
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-120, CWE-787

Affected products

  • cisco / secure_endpoint
  • cisco / secure_endpoint_private_cloud
  • cisco / web_security_appliance
  • clamav / clamav
  • clamav / clamav / 1.0.0

Showing 5 representative product identities from 18 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Buffer bounds, memory safety, and memory corruption

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Identify affected native-code versions, build flags, architectures, parsers, codecs, drivers, and input paths in all shipped artifacts.
  • Determine whether untrusted data reaches the affected routine and the process privilege, sandbox, and network exposure.
  • Confirm statically linked, vendored, firmware, and platform-provided copies, not only package-manager records.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained upstream correction or replace the affected component, then rebuild every dependent artifact from clean inputs.
  • Adopt bounds-checked interfaces, validated sizes and integer conversions, clear ownership, and memory-safe components where practical.
  • Enable supported compiler and runtime hardening and add sanitized tests and fuzz regression seeds derived from non-weaponized fixtures.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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