CVE-2023-35963 Command injection in GTKWave

High 7.8 Published 8 Jan 2024 Updated 4 Nov 2025

Attackers can execute arbitrary commands by tricking users into opening a malicious wave file in GTKWave's vcd2lxt2 utility.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: A user has to click or open something
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2023-35963?

CVE-2023-35963 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Tonybybell Gtkwave, published on 8 Jan 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

Multiple OS command injection vulnerabilities exist in the decompression functionality of GTKWave 3.3.115. A specially crafted wave file can lead to arbitrary command execution. A victim would need to open a malicious file to trigger these vulnerabilities.This vulnerability concerns decompression in the `vcd2lxt2` utility.

Weakness: CWE-78

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-35963?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Tonybybell Gtkwave.

How do I fix CVE-2023-35963?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade, and pass arguments to programs as a list instead of through a shell. More about Command injection.

Is CVE-2023-35963 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-35963 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Tonybybell Gtkwave vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2023-35963, GHSA-8g39-682j-5v37, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-35963.