Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2023-42118

high Nessus Plugin ID 248569

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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.

- Exim libspf2 Integer Underflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows network- adjacent attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Exim libspf2. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of SPF macros.
When parsing SPF macros, the process does not properly validate user-supplied data, which can result in an integer underflow before writing to memory. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the service account. . Was ZDI-CAN-17578. (CVE-2023-42118)

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

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 248569

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2023_42118.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 8/12/2025

Updated: 8/12/2025

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

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 8.3

Temporal Score: 6.1

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2023-42118

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 6.5

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

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:libspf2, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libspf2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:exim4, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:25.04, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:-:lts

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

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 10/2/2023

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2023-42118

Detections

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