# CVE-2023-20032: Memory corruption in Cisco Secure Endpoint

> Remote attackers can execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via crafted HFS+ files due to a heap buffer overflow in ClamAV.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 16 Feb 2023
- **Updated:** 2 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** AZL-13724, CLEANSTART-2026-RA22735, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-20032, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-20032

## What is CVE-2023-20032?

CVE-2023-20032 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Cisco Web Security Appliance, published on 16 Feb 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

On Feb 15, 2023, the following vulnerability in the ClamAV scanning library was disclosed:

 
 A vulnerability in the HFS+ partition file parser of ClamAV versions 1.0.0 and earlier, 0.105.1 and earlier, and 0.103.7 and earlier could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code.

 
 This vulnerability is due to a missing buffer size check that may result in a heap buffer overflow write. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted HFS+ partition file to be scanned by ClamAV on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the ClamAV scanning process, or else crash the process, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition.

 For a description of this vulnerability, see the ClamAV blog ["https://blog.clamav.net/"].

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-120 (Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20032?

It affects 5 products.


Products: Cisco Secure Endpoint, Cisco Secure Endpoint Private Cloud, Cisco Web Security Appliance, Clamav Clamav, Stormshield Stormshield Network Security.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20032?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2023-20032 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20032 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Web Security Appliance

- [CVE-2022-20770](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20770/): ClamAV CHM File Parsing Denial of Service Vulnerability Affecting Cisco Products: April 2022 (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2026-20348](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20348/): ClamAV XAR File Format Processing Memory Corruption Vulnerability (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2026-20213](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20213/): ClamAV PE File Format Processing Out-of-Bounds Memory Corruption Vulnerability (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2026-20214](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20214/): ClamAV FSG File Format Processing Out-of-Bounds Memory Corruption Vulnerability (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2026-20215](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20215/): ClamAV 7Zip File Format Processing Out-of-Bounds Memory Corruption Vulnerability (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-20032 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20032 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Cisco Web Security Appliance, published on 16 Feb 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20032 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Web Security Appliance. 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-2023-20032/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20032/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20032
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20032
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20032

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20032/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.