# CVE-2023-40018: FreeSWITCH allows remote users to trigger out of bounds write by offering an ICE candidate with unknown component ID

> Remote attackers can trigger out-of-bounds writes via malformed ICE candidates, causing memory corruption, crashes, or potential code execution in FreeSWITCH.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Sep 2023
- **Updated:** 25 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7mwp-86fv-hcg3

## What is CVE-2023-40018?

CVE-2023-40018 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in signalwire freeswitch, published on 15 Sep 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

FreeSWITCH is a Software Defined Telecom Stack enabling the digital transformation from proprietary telecom switches to a software implementation that runs on any commodity hardware. Prior to version 1.10.10, FreeSWITCH allows remote users to trigger out of bounds write by offering an ICE candidate with unknown component ID. When an SDP is offered with any ICE candidates with an unknown component ID, FreeSWITCH will make an out of bounds write to its  arrays. By abusing this vulnerability, an attacker is able to corrupt FreeSWITCH memory leading to an undefined behavior of the system or a crash of it. Version 1.10.10 contains a patch for this issue.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-40018?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Freeswitch Freeswitch.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-40018?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-40018 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-40018 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-40018 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in signalwire freeswitch

- [CVE-2026-49841](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-49841/): FreeSWITCH: Pre-authentication heap buffer overflow in `mod_verto` HTTP POST body read (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-19492](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-19492/): Hardcoded credentials in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-49840](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-49840/): FreeSWITCH: Pre-authentication heap buffer overflow in libesl `Content-Length` parsing (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2021-41145](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41145/): FreeSWITCH susceptible to Denial of Service via SIP flooding (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2026-45771](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45771/): Freeswitch Denial-of-Service in SIP PUBLISH Requests via XML Entity Expansion (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-40018 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-40018 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in signalwire freeswitch, published on 15 Sep 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-40018 exists.

Affected product: signalwire freeswitch. 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-2023-40018/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40018/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-40018
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40018
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-40018

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40018/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.