CVE-2023-20197

A vulnerability in the filesystem image parser for Hierarchical File System Plus (HFS+) of ClamAV could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to an incorrect check for completion when a file is decompressed, which may result in a loop condition that could cause the affected software to stop responding. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted HFS+ filesystem image to be scanned by ClamAV on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the ClamAV scanning process to stop responding, resulting in a DoS condition on the affected software and consuming available system resources. For a description of this vulnerability, see the ClamAV blog .

Published: 2023-08-16 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-20197 is rated Moderate Risk (53.3/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.50%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-20197

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-11 0.36% 0.50% +0.14%
2 2025-11-21 1.21% 0.36% -0.84%
3 2025-11-18 — 1.21% —

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-20197

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-20197

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-20197

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2023-20197: 1 source package rows (clamav); 5 state rows across 5 repos (3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 5, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-20197
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-20197 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (clamav), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-20197
gentoo normal CVE-2023-20197: 1 GLSA(s) (202507-03), 1 atom(s) (app-antivirus/clamav); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2023-20197
suse high CVE-2023-20197 severity important: SUSE including 51 source package names (clamav-0.103.9-1.1, clamav-0.103.9-150000.3.47.1, …), 275 product×package rows across 50 product lines (Image SLES12-SP5-SAP-Azure-LI-BYOS-Production, Image SLES12-SP5-SAP-Azure-VLI-BYOS-Production, … (50 product lines)): Fixed 275. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-20197/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-20197 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (clamav), 7 status rows across 7 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 6, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-20197

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-20197

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco secure_endpoint < 1.22.0 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:secure_endpoint:*:*:*:*:*:linux:*:*
cisco secure_endpoint < 1.22.0 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:secure_endpoint:*:*:*:*:*:macos:*:*
cisco secure_endpoint < 7.5.13.21586 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:secure_endpoint:*:*:*:*:*:windows:*:*
cisco secure_endpoint >= 8.0.1.21160, < 8.1.7.21585 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:secure_endpoint:*:*:*:*:*:windows:*:*
cisco secure_endpoint_private_cloud < 3.8.0 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:secure_endpoint_private_cloud:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 38 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:38:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-20197

cvelogic Threat Intelligence