# CVE-2022-23089: Out of bound read in elf_note_prpsinfo()

> A crafted ps_string can trigger an out-of-bounds read in the FreeBSD kernel during core dumps, causing a system crash.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Feb 2024
- **Updated:** 13 Mar 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-gr4v-q65c-996m

## What is CVE-2022-23089?

CVE-2022-23089 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 15 Feb 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

When dumping core and saving process information, proc_getargv() might return an sbuf which have a sbuf_len() of 0 or -1, which is not properly handled.

An out-of-bound read can happen when user constructs a specially crafted ps_string, which in turn can cause the kernel to crash.

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-23089?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Freebsd Freebsd.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-23089?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-23089 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-23089 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-23089 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Freebsd Freebsd

- [CVE-2018-17160](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17160/): Memory corruption in FreeBSD (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2014-3954](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3954/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-4304](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-4304/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-0226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-0226/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-0002](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0002/): Denial of service in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-23089 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-23089 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 15 Feb 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-23089 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Freebsd Freebsd. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23089/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23089/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-23089
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-23089
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-23089

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23089/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.