# CVE-2023-38469: Reachable assertion in avahi_dns_packet_append_record

> A reachable assertion in Avahi allows attackers to cause a denial of service by triggering a crash in the DNS packet handling logic.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 Nov 2023
- **Updated:** 28 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2023-38469, AZL-31756, AZL-34549, BELL-CVE-2023-38469, CLEANSTART-2026-VW83784, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-38469, GHSA-cg96-q9gq-2pr7, MINI-vcwh-fcx3-jpcp, OESA-2023-1812, ROOT-OS-ALPINE-318-CVE-2023-38469, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-38469

## What is CVE-2023-38469?

CVE-2023-38469 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux, published on 2 Nov 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability was found in Avahi, where a reachable assertion exists in avahi_dns_packet_append_record.

Weakness: CWE-617 (Reachable Assertion)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-38469?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Avahi Avahi, Redhat Enterprise Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-38469?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-38469 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-38469 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Redhat Enterprise Linux

- [CVE-2017-6519](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6519/): Denial of service in n/a (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2021-26720](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-26720/): Path traversal in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2026-24401](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24401/): Avahi has Uncontrolled Recursion in lookup_handle_cname function (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2025-68468](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68468/): Avahi has a reachable assertion in lookup_multicast_callback (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2025-68471](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-68471/): Avahi has a reachable assertion in lookup_start (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-38469 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-38469 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux, published on 2 Nov 2023. 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-2023-38469 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Redhat Enterprise 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-2023-38469/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38469/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-38469
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-38469
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-38469

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38469/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.