# CVE-2023-42444: phonenumber panics on parsing crafted RF3966 inputs

> Attackers can cause a denial of service in applications using the phonenumber library by sending crafted inputs that trigger a panic.

- **Severity:** High 8.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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:** Yes
- **Published:** 19 Sep 2023
- **Updated:** 24 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-whhr-7f2w-qqj2, RUSTSEC-2023-0082

## What is CVE-2023-42444?

CVE-2023-42444 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in whisperfish rust-phonenumber, published on 19 Sep 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

phonenumber is a library for parsing, formatting and validating international phone numbers. Prior to versions `0.3.3+8.13.9` and `0.2.5+8.11.3`, the phonenumber parsing code may panic due to a panic-guarded out-of-bounds access on the phonenumber string. In a typical deployment of `rust-phonenumber`, this may get triggered by feeding a maliciously crafted phonenumber over the network, specifically the string `.;phone-context=`. Versions `0.3.3+8.13.9` and `0.2.5+8.11.3` contain a patch for this issue. There are no known workarounds.

Weakness: CWE-392 (Missing Report of Error Condition), CWE-248 (Uncaught Exception), CWE-1284 (Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-42444?

5 open source packages ship an affected version, including phonenumber. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `phonenumber` | crates.io | All versions | 0.2.5 |
| `phonenumber` | crates.io | All versions | 0.2.5 |
| `phonenumber` | crates.io | From 0.0.0-0 | 0.2.5, 0.3.3 |
| `phonenumber` | crates.io | From 0.3.0 | 0.3.3 |
| `phonenumber` | crates.io | From 0.3.0 | 0.3.3 |

Products: Whisperfish Phonenumber.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-42444?

Upgrade phonenumber to a fixed version for your release line: 0.2.5 or 0.3.3.

## Is CVE-2023-42444 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-42444 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-42444 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-42444 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in whisperfish rust-phonenumber, published on 19 Sep 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-2023-42444 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- phonenumber (crates.io): affected all versions; fixed in 0.2.5
- phonenumber (crates.io): affected all versions; fixed in 0.2.5
- phonenumber (crates.io): affected from 0.0.0-0; fixed in 0.2.5, 0.3.3
- phonenumber (crates.io): affected from 0.3.0; fixed in 0.3.3
- phonenumber (crates.io): affected from 0.3.0; fixed in 0.3.3

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-2023-42444/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42444/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-42444
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-42444
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-42444

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42444/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.