# CVE-2023-29415: Denial of service in n/a

> A crafted archive causes a process hang in the bzip3 library due to improper interaction with libsais, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 6 Apr 2023
- **Updated:** 13 Feb 2025
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2023-29415, GHSA-x9qg-mxcc-p559, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-29415

## What is CVE-2023-29415?

CVE-2023-29415 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 6 Apr 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in libbzip3.a in bzip3 before 1.3.0. A denial of service (process hang) can occur with a crafted archive because bzip3 does not follow the required procedure for interacting with libsais.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-29415?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Bzip3 Project Bzip3, Debian Debian Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-29415?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2023-29415 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-29415 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2023-29421](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29421/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-29416](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29416/): Memory corruption in n/a (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2023-29417](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29417/): Memory corruption in n/a (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2023-29418](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29418/): Memory corruption in n/a (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2023-29419](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29419/): Memory corruption in n/a (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-29415 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-29415 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 6 Apr 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-29415 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2023-29415/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29415/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-29415
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-29415
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-29415

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29415/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.