# CVE-2023-38252: W3m: out of bounds read in strnew_size() at w3m/str.c

Status: published. Published: 2023-07-14. Updated: 2026-11-07.

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file.

## Remediation

No remediation reported in collected sources

## Affected products and versions

- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (w3m): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat

## Severity and prioritization

- CVSS 3.1: 4.7 (medium); CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H; source: CNA: redhat

- CISA KEV: No listing in collected sources

- EPSS: 0.36% as of 2026-11-06; percentile 29.71%

- SSVC: Not available

- Weaknesses: CWE-125

## Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-38252 (CNA: redhat; vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2222775 (CNA: redhat; issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://github.com/tats/w3m/issues/270 (CNA: redhat)

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-38252 (ADP: CVE; vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT, x_transferred)

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2222775 (ADP: CVE; issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT, x_transferred)

- https://github.com/tats/w3m/issues/270 (ADP: CVE; x_transferred)

- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/AULOBQJLXE2KCT5UVQMKGEFL4GFIAOED/ (ADP: CVE; x_transferred)

- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MKFZQUK7FPWWJQYICDZZ4YWIPUPQ2D3R/ (ADP: CVE; x_transferred)

- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TODROGVCWZ435HQIZE6ARQC5LPQLIA5C/ (ADP: CVE; x_transferred)

## Provenance

- CNA: redhat: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-38252; retrieved 2026-11-07; source updated 2026-11-07

- FIRST EPSS: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2023-38252; retrieved 2026-11-07; source updated Not reported

Revision: 935111285a03176e910e9ccc4c16794e4d96d0a884c99479d095836f22f11e06

Canonical: https://y2.dev/cve/CVE-2023-38252

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