CVE-2023-31130: Buffer Underwrite in ares_inet_net_pton()
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2023-31130 is a medium (CVSS 6.4) Buffer Underwrite vulnerability in c-ares_project c-ares. EPSS estimates a 0.38% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 32.3% of scored vulnerabilities.
Not severe (CVSS 4.1, local access); no exploitation reported by the 5 checked sources
Source freshness unavailable
How is this decided?Advisory lineage
Upstream 0 · Downstream 22 · Related 12Timeline
- 25-05-2023PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 13-02-2025Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
c-ares is an asynchronous resolver library. ares_inet_net_pton() is vulnerable to a buffer underflow for certain ipv6 addresses, in particular "0::00:00:00/2" was found to cause an issue. C-ares only uses this function internally for configuration purposes which would require an administrator to configure such an address via ares_set_sortlist(). However, users may externally use ares_inet_net_pton() for other purposes and thus be vulnerable to more severe issues. This issue has been fixed in 1.19.1.
CVSS metrics
7 scores · 7 sources · 1 version- CVE.orgCNA4.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HDiffers
- OSV · Red hatEcosystem advisory · calculated5.7MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:HDiffers
- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated4.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HDiffers
- OSV · DebianEcosystem advisory · calculated6.4MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- OSV · WolfiEcosystem advisory · calculated4.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HDiffers
- OSV · ChainguardEcosystem advisory · calculated4.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HDiffers
EPSS trend
Probability
0.38%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
32%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
No change 0.00 pp
From 0.38% on 04-10-2026
Known exploited
Compare KEV catalogs
CISA KEVNot in the CISA KEV catalog.
ENISA CNWNot in the ENISA CNW catalog.
CIRCLNot in the CIRCL catalog.
Public exploits
0 foundNo public exploits indexed.
Weaknesses
CWE · root causeAffected systems
Known conditions: local access, administrative account, no user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.
Redhat4 products
- c-ares< 0:1.13.0-6.el8_6.2
- c-ares-debuginfo< 0:1.13.0-6.el8_6.2
- c-ares-debugsource< 0:1.13.0-6.el8_6.2
- c-ares-devel< 0:1.13.0-6.el8_6.2
Debian2 products
- c-ares< 1.18.1-3
- debian_linuxEOL10.0 | 11.0
C-ares1 product
- c-ares< 1.19.1
C-ares_project1 product
- c-ares< 1.19.1
Chainguard1 product
- c-ares< 1.19.1-r0
Fedoraproject1 product
- fedoraEOL37 | 38
Ubuntu1 product
- c-ares< 1.10.0-3ubuntu0.2+esm2 | < 1.14.0-1ubuntu0.2+esm1 | < 1.15.0-1ubuntu0.3 | < 1.18.1-1ubuntu0.22.04.2
Wolfi1 product
- c-ares< 1.19.1-r0
8 vendors · 12 products
References
21 links- github.com/c-ares/c-ares/security/advisories/GHSA-x6mf-cxr9-8q6vX Refsource CONFIRMARTICLEREPORTAdvisoryThird Party Advisory
