# CVE-2023-42521: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash the scanning engine in WithSecure endpoint protection products by submitting a malicious compressed file.

- **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:** 18 Sep 2023
- **Updated:** 25 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-65v8-q8g2-34xw

## What is CVE-2023-42521?

CVE-2023-42521 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 18 Sep 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Certain WithSecure products allow a remote crash of a scanning engine via processing of a compressed file. This affects WithSecure Client Security 15, WithSecure Server Security 15, WithSecure Email and Server Security 15, WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection 17 and later, WithSecure Client Security for Mac 15, WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection for Mac 17 and later, Linux Security 64 12.0 , Linux Protection 12.0, and WithSecure Atlant (formerly F-Secure Atlant) 1.0.35-1.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-42521?

It affects 7 products.


Products: Withsecure Atlant, Withsecure Client Security, Withsecure Elements Endpoint Protection, Withsecure Email and Server Security, Withsecure Linux Protection, Withsecure Linux Security 64, Withsecure Server Security.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-42521?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-42521 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-42521 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-42521 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2023-47263](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47263/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2023-47264](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47264/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2023-42520](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42520/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2023-42522](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42522/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2023-42523](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42523/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-42521 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-42521 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 18 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-2023-42521 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2023-42521/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42521/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-42521
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-42521
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-42521

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42521/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.