MediumFix available
libreswan — security advisory
An issue was discovered in Libreswan before 4.12. When an IKEv2 Child SA REKEY packet contains an invalid IPsec protocol ID number of 0 or 1, an error notify INVALID_SPI is sent back. The notify payload's protocol ID is copied from the incoming packet, but the code that verifies outgoing packets fails an assertion that the protocol ID must be ESP (2) or AH(3) and causes the pluto daemon to crash and restart. NOTE: the earliest affected version is 3.20.
- Products
- libreswan
- Affected versions
- 4.10-2, 4.10-2+deb12u1, 4.11-1, 4.12-1, 4.12-2, 4.12-3, 4.14-1, 4.14-1.1, 4.15-1, 5.0~rc2-1, 5.0~rc2-2, 5.2-1, 5.2-2, 5.2-2.1, 5.2-2.2, 5.2-2.3, 5.2-2.4, 5.2-2.5
- Fixed versions
- 4.12-1
- CVEs
- CVE-2023-38710
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 1 Nov 2026, 16:04 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
An issue was discovered in Libreswan before 4.12. When an IKEv2 Child SA REKEY packet contains an invalid IPsec protocol ID number of 0 or 1, an error notify INVALID_SPI is sent back. The notify payload's protocol ID is copied from the incoming packet, but the code that verifies outgoing packets fails an assertion that the protocol ID must be ESP (2) or AH(3) and causes the pluto daemon to crash and restart. NOTE: the earliest affected version is 3.20.
osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2023-38710
libreswan
Fixed versions: Not specified
libreswan
Fixed versions: 4.12-1
libreswan
Fixed versions: 4.12-1
Complete source record
{
"id": "19ac2216695f87b88a0b7a1799fad7d02fbf4233706d28b729441fff47d71189",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2023-38710",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2023-38710",
"summary": "An issue was discovered in Libreswan before 4.12. When an IKEv2 Child SA REKEY packet contains an invalid IPsec protocol ID number of 0 or 1, an error notify INVALID_SPI is sent back. The notify payload's protocol ID is copied from the incoming packet, but the code that verifies outgoing packets fails an assertion that the protocol ID must be ESP (2) or AH(3) and causes the pluto daemon to crash and restart. NOTE: the earliest affected version is 3.20.",
"evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2023-38710",
"products": [
{
"name": {
"value": "libreswan",
"evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [],
"affected_versions": [
{
"value": "4.10-2",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "4.10-2+deb12u1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "4.11-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "4.12-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "4.12-2",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "4.12-3",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "4.14-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "4.14-1.1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "4.15-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "5.0~rc2-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "5.0~rc2-2",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "5.2-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "5.2-2",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "5.2-2.1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "5.2-2.2",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "5.2-2.3",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "5.2-2.4",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "5.2-2.5",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
}
]
},
{
"name": {
"value": "libreswan",
"evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "4.12-1",
"evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
"name": {
"value": "libreswan",
"evidence": "/affected/2/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "4.12-1",
"evidence": "/affected/2/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
}
],
"severity": "medium",
"structured": {
"id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2023-38710",
"aliases": [
"DEBIAN-CVE-2023-38710"
],
"metrics": [
{
"type": "CVSS_V3",
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
}
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "libreswan",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/libreswan?arch=source&distro=bookworm",
"ecosystem": "Debian:12"
},
"versions": [
"4.10-2",
"4.10-2+deb12u1",
"4.11-1",
"4.12-1",
"4.12-2",
"4.12-3",
"4.14-1",
"4.14-1.1",
"4.15-1",
"5.0~rc2-1",
"5.0~rc2-2",
"5.2-1",
"5.2-2",
"5.2-2.1",
"5.2-2.2",
"5.2-2.3",
"5.2-2.4",
"5.2-2.5"
],
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2023-38710.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "4.12-1"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "libreswan",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/libreswan?arch=source&distro=trixie",
"ecosystem": "Debian:13"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2023-38710.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "4.12-1"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "libreswan",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/libreswan?arch=source&distro=forky",
"ecosystem": "Debian:14"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2023-38710.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-26T18:02:40.896851851Z",
"provider": "osv",
"upstream": [
"CVE-2023-38710"
],
"references": [
"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-38710"
]
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2023-38710",
"evidence": "/upstream"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 456578,
"published_at": "2023-08-25T21:15:08.167+00:00"
}