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Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-38853

medium Nessus Plugin ID 232072

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Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

 - Buffer Overflow vulnerability in libxlsv.1.6.2 allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code and cause a denial of service via a crafted XLS file to the xls_parseWorkBook function in xls.c:1015.
 (CVE-2023-38853)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-38853

https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-38853

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 232072

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2023_38853.nasl

Version: 1.3

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 3/6/2025

Updated: 8/27/2025

Supported Sensors: Agentless Assessment, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 9

Temporal Score: 7

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:P

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2023-38853

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.5

Temporal Score: 5.9

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:14.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:25.04, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:r-cran-readxl, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:r-cran-readxl, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0

Required KB Items: Host/OS/identifier, Host/cpu, Host/local_checks_enabled, global_settings/vendor_unpatched

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 8/15/2023

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2023-38853