CVE catalog

CVE-2023-4255

w3m affected and fixed versions

[CVE catalog]

An out-of-bounds write issue has been discovered in the backspace handling of the checkType() function in etc.c within the W3M application. This vulnerability is triggered by supplying a specially crafted HTML file to the w3m binary. Exploitation of this flaw could lead to application crashes, resulting in a denial of service condition.

Severity
Medium · CVSS 5.5CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Published
Source
[NVD] · [CVE record]
EPSS
0.32% · Oct 27, 2026

Projects and upstream resources

Reported versions and fixes

Each observation applies to its named package, distribution, and release. Distribution backports can fix a vulnerability while retaining an older upstream version number.

Version impact has not been established. The original provider fields are retained below.

Provider details and historical evidence
Original provider fields
{
  "package_releases": [
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "status": "fixed",
      "release": "sid",
      "version": "0.5.3+git20230121-2.3"
    },
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "status": "fixed",
      "release": "forky",
      "version": "0.5.3+git20230121-2.3"
    },
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "status": "fixed",
      "release": "trixie",
      "version": "0.5.3+git20230121-2.1"
    },
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "status": "vulnerable",
      "release": "bookworm",
      "version": "0.5.3+git20230121-2"
    }
  ],
  "fixed_versions": [
    {
      "bug": 1059265,
      "name": "w3m",
      "type": "source",
      "origin": null,
      "release": "sid",
      "urgency": "not yet assigned",
      "fixed_version": "0.5.3+git20230121-2.1"
    },
    {
      "bug": 1059265,
      "name": "w3m",
      "type": "source",
      "origin": null,
      "release": "forky",
      "urgency": "not yet assigned",
      "fixed_version": "0.5.3+git20230121-2.1"
    },
    {
      "bug": 1059265,
      "name": "w3m",
      "type": "source",
      "origin": null,
      "release": "trixie",
      "urgency": "not yet assigned",
      "fixed_version": "0.5.3+git20230121-2.1"
    },
    {
      "bug": 1059265,
      "name": "w3m",
      "type": "source",
      "origin": null,
      "release": "bookworm",
      "urgency": "not yet assigned",
      "fixed_version": ""
    }
  ],
  "distribution_packages": [
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "distro": "ubuntu",
      "ranges": [
        {
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "0.5.3-36ubuntu0.1+esm1"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "release": "pro",
      "versions": [
        "0.5.3-34",
        "0.5.3-34.1",
        "0.5.3-35",
        "0.5.3-36",
        "0.5.3-36build1",
        "0.5.3-36ubuntu0.1"
      ],
      "ecosystem": "deb",
      "fixed_version": "0.5.3-36ubuntu0.1+esm1",
      "provider_record_id": "USN-6580-1"
    },
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "distro": "ubuntu",
      "ranges": [
        {
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "0.5.3-37ubuntu0.2"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "release": "20.04",
      "versions": [
        "0.5.3-37",
        "0.5.3-37ubuntu0.1"
      ],
      "ecosystem": "deb",
      "fixed_version": "0.5.3-37ubuntu0.2",
      "provider_record_id": "USN-6580-1"
    },
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "distro": "ubuntu",
      "ranges": [
        {
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "0.5.3+git20210102-6ubuntu0.2"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "release": "22.04",
      "versions": [
        "0.5.3+git20210102-6build1",
        "0.5.3+git20210102-6build2",
        "0.5.3+git20210102-6build3",
        "0.5.3+git20210102-6ubuntu0.1"
      ],
      "ecosystem": "deb",
      "fixed_version": "0.5.3+git20210102-6ubuntu0.2",
      "provider_record_id": "USN-6580-1"
    },
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "distro": "suse",
      "ranges": [
        {
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "0.5.3.git20161120-161.9.1"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "release": "linux enterprise server 12 sp5",
      "versions": [],
      "ecosystem": "rpm",
      "fixed_version": "0.5.3.git20161120-161.9.1",
      "provider_record_id": "SUSE-SU-2024:0014-1"
    },
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "distro": "suse",
      "ranges": [
        {
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "0.5.3.git20161120-161.9.1"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "release": "linux enterprise server for sap applications 12 sp5",
      "versions": [],
      "ecosystem": "rpm",
      "fixed_version": "0.5.3.git20161120-161.9.1",
      "provider_record_id": "SUSE-SU-2024:0014-1"
    },
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "distro": "ubuntu",
      "ranges": [
        {
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "0.5.3-36ubuntu0.1+esm1"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "release": "pro",
      "versions": [
        "0.5.3-34",
        "0.5.3-34.1",
        "0.5.3-35",
        "0.5.3-36",
        "0.5.3-36build1",
        "0.5.3-36ubuntu0.1"
      ],
      "ecosystem": "deb",
      "fixed_version": "0.5.3-36ubuntu0.1+esm1",
      "provider_record_id": "UBUNTU-CVE-2023-4255"
    },
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "distro": "ubuntu",
      "ranges": [
        {
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "release": "16.04",
      "versions": [
        "0.5.3-24",
        "0.5.3-25",
        "0.5.3-26",
        "0.5.3-26build1",
        "0.5.3-26ubuntu0.1",
        "0.5.3-26ubuntu0.2"
      ],
      "ecosystem": "deb",
      "fixed_version": "",
      "provider_record_id": "UBUNTU-CVE-2023-4255"
    },
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "distro": "ubuntu",
      "ranges": [
        {
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "0.5.3-37ubuntu0.2"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "release": "20.04",
      "versions": [
        "0.5.3-37",
        "0.5.3-37ubuntu0.1"
      ],
      "ecosystem": "deb",
      "fixed_version": "0.5.3-37ubuntu0.2",
      "provider_record_id": "UBUNTU-CVE-2023-4255"
    },
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "distro": "ubuntu",
      "ranges": [
        {
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "0.5.3+git20210102-6ubuntu0.2"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "release": "22.04",
      "versions": [
        "0.5.3+git20210102-6build1",
        "0.5.3+git20210102-6build2",
        "0.5.3+git20210102-6build3",
        "0.5.3+git20210102-6ubuntu0.1"
      ],
      "ecosystem": "deb",
      "fixed_version": "0.5.3+git20210102-6ubuntu0.2",
      "provider_record_id": "UBUNTU-CVE-2023-4255"
    },
    {
      "name": "w3m",
      "distro": "ubuntu",
      "ranges": [
        {
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "0.5.3+git20230121-2ubuntu1"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "release": "24.04",
      "versions": [
        "0.5.3+git20230121-2"
      ],
      "ecosystem": "deb",
      "fixed_version": "0.5.3+git20230121-2ubuntu1",
      "provider_record_id": "UBUNTU-CVE-2023-4255"
    }
  ]
}

[Debian bug #1059265]

Publisher notes

[bookworm] w3m: Minor issue

OpenFactory catalog packages

Matching against OpenFactory catalog package versions is in progress.

[Debian 12 (Bookworm)]

  • [w3m]Unknown
    Details (2)

    • 0.5.3+git20230121-2 · amd64 · bookworm

      Affected

      dsa · w3m · debian · bookworm; dsa · w3m · debian · 12

    • 0.5.3+git20230121-2 · arm64 · bookworm

      Affected

      dsa · w3m · debian · bookworm; dsa · w3m · debian · 12

  • [w3m-img]Unknown

    Source package: [w3m]

    Details (2)

    • 0.5.3+git20230121-2 · amd64 · bookworm

      Affected

      dsa · w3m · debian · bookworm; dsa · w3m · debian · 12

    • 0.5.3+git20230121-2 · arm64 · bookworm

      Affected

      dsa · w3m · debian · bookworm; dsa · w3m · debian · 12

[Debian 13 (Trixie)]

  • [w3m]Unknown
    Details (2)

    • 0.5.3+git20230121-2.1 · amd64 · trixie

      Fixed · Fixed: 0.5.3+git20230121-2.1

      dsa · w3m · debian · 13

    • 0.5.3+git20230121-2.1 · arm64 · trixie

      Fixed · Fixed: 0.5.3+git20230121-2.1

      dsa · w3m · debian · 13

  • [w3m-img]Unknown

    Source package: [w3m]

    Details (2)

    • 0.5.3+git20230121-2.1 · amd64 · trixie

      Fixed · Fixed: 0.5.3+git20230121-2.1

      dsa · w3m · debian · 13

    • 0.5.3+git20230121-2.1 · arm64 · trixie

      Fixed · Fixed: 0.5.3+git20230121-2.1

      dsa · w3m · debian · 13

Observed:

References

[CERT-Bund public advisories] · [Debian Security Tracker] · [FIRST EPSS] · [OSV Package Vulnerability Database] · [Red Hat security advisories and VEX] · [SUSE security advisories and VEX]