CVE-2023-30624 | Wasmtime has Undefined Behavior in Rust runtime functions

Wasmtime is a standalone runtime for WebAssembly. Prior to versions 6.0.2, 7.0.1, and 8.0.1, Wasmtime's implementation of managing per-instance state, such as tables and memories, contains LLVM-level undefined behavior. This undefined behavior was found to cause runtime-level issues when compiled with LLVM 16 which causes some writes, which are critical for correctness, to be optimized away. Vulnerable versions of Wasmtime compiled with Rust 1.70, which is currently in beta, or later are known to have incorrectly compiled functions. Versions of Wasmtime compiled with the current Rust stable release, 1.69, and prior are not known at this time to have any issues, but can theoretically exhibit potential issues. The underlying problem is that Wasmtime's runtime state for an instance involves a Rust-defined structure called `Instance` which has a trailing `VMContext` structure after it. This `VMContext` structure has a runtime-defined layout that is unique per-module. This representation cannot be expressed with safe code in Rust so `unsafe` code is required to maintain this state. The code doing this, however, has methods which take `&self` as an argument but modify data in the `VMContext` part of the allocation. This means that pointers derived from `&self` are mutated. This is typically not allowed, except in the presence of `UnsafeCell`, in Rust. When compiled to LLVM these functions have `noalias readonly` parameters which means it's UB to write through the pointers. Wasmtime's internal representation and management of `VMContext` has been updated to use `&mut self` methods where appropriate. Additionally verification tools for `unsafe` code in Rust, such as `cargo miri`, are planned to be executed on the `main` branch soon to fix any Rust-level issues that may be exploited in future compiler versions. Precomplied binaries available for Wasmtime from GitHub releases have been compiled with at most LLVM 15 so are not known to be vulnerable. As mentioned above, however, it's still recommended to update. Wasmtime version 6.0.2, 7.0.1, and 8.0.1 have been issued which contain the patch necessary to work correctly on LLVM 16 and have no known UB on LLVM 15 and earlier. If Wasmtime is compiled with Rust 1.69 and prior, which use LLVM 15, then there are no known issues. There is a theoretical possibility for undefined behavior to exploited, however, so it's recommended that users upgrade to a patched version of Wasmtime. Users using beta Rust (1.70 at this time) or nightly Rust (1.71 at this time) must update to a patched version to work correctly.

Published: 2023-04-27 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-30624 is rated Low Risk (28.3/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.45%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2023-30624

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 2026-06-15 0.16% 0.45% +0.29%
2 2026-05-15 0.10% 0.16% +0.06%
3 2025-11-21 0.10%

Full EPSS history (11 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-30624

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
3.9 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L 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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
0.5 3.4 [email protected]
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-30624

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-30624

GHSA-ch89-5g45-qwc7 · Severity: low · Ecosystem: rust — Undefined Behavior in Rust runtime functions

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-30624

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2023-30624 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (rust-wasmtime), 3 status rows across 3 suites (forky, sid, trixie): resolved 3. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-30624

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-30624

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
bytecodealliance wasmtime < 6.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:bytecodealliance:wasmtime:*:*:*:*:*:rust:*:*
bytecodealliance wasmtime 7.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:bytecodealliance:wasmtime:7.0.0:*:*:*:*:rust:*:*
bytecodealliance wasmtime 8.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:bytecodealliance:wasmtime:8.0.0:*:*:*:*:rust:*:*

References for CVE-2023-30624

cvelogic Threat Intelligence