CVE-2023-38712: libreswan NULL Pointer Dereference
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2023-38712 is a medium (CVSS 6.5) NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability in libreswan. EPSS estimates a 0.81% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 57% of scored vulnerabilities.
Not severe (CVSS 6.5, network access); no exploitation reported by the 5 checked sources
Source freshness unavailable
How is this decided?Advisory lineage
Upstream 0 · Downstream 8Timeline
- 25-08-2023PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 02-08-2024Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
An issue was discovered in Libreswan 3.x and 4.x before 4.12. When an IKEv1 ISAKMP SA Informational Exchange packet contains a Delete/Notify payload followed by further Notifies that act on the ISAKMP SA, such as a duplicated Delete/Notify message, a NULL pointer dereference on the deleted state causes the pluto daemon to crash and restart.
CVSS metrics
4 scores · 4 sources · 1 version- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated6.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- OSV · DebianEcosystem advisory · calculated6.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- OSV · AlpineEcosystem advisory · calculated6.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS trend
Probability
0.81%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
57%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
No change 0.00 pp
From 0.81% 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: network-reachable, low-privilege account, no user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.
Alpine1 product
- libreswan≥ 3.0, < 4.12-r0
Debian1 product
- libreswanAll versions (No fix recorded) | < 4.12-1
Libreswan1 product
- libreswan≥ 3.0, < 4.0 | ≥ 4.0, < 4.12
Ubuntu1 product
- libreswanAll versions (No fix recorded)
4 vendors · 4 products
References
9 links- github.com/libreswan/libreswan/tagsThird Party Advisory
- libreswan.org/security/CVE-2023-38712/Third Party Advisory
