How severe is CVE-2023-5088?

CVE-2023-5088 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.4, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with high attack complexity, requires high privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.

Is CVE-2023-5088 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (14th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2023-5088?

CVE-2023-5088 primarily affects Redhat Enterprise Linux. In total, 4 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2023-5088?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2023-5088 published?

CVE-2023-5088 was published on 2023-11-03 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2023-5088

CVE-2023-5088 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux with a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.4. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-662.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 6.4)
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (14th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-662
Affected product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
Published: 2023-11-03
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

A bug in QEMU could cause a guest I/O operation otherwise addressed to an arbitrary disk offset to be targeted to offset 0 instead (potentially overwriting the VM's boot code). This could be used, for example, by L2 guests with a virtual disk (vdiskL2) stored on a virtual disk of an L1 (vdiskL1) hypervisor to read and/or write data to LBA 0 of vdiskL1, potentially gaining control of L1 at its next reboot.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-5088?: A bug in QEMU could cause a guest I/O operation otherwise addressed to an arbitrary disk offset to be targeted to offset 0 instead (potentially overwriting the VM's boot code). This could be used, for example, by L2 guests with a virtual disk (vdiskL2) stored on a virtual disk of an L1 (vdiskL1) hypervisor to read and/or write data to LBA 0 of vdiskL1, potentially gaining control of L1 at its next reboot.
How severe is CVE-2023-5088?: CVE-2023-5088 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.4, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with high attack complexity, requires high privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.
Is CVE-2023-5088 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (14th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2023-5088?: CVE-2023-5088 primarily affects Redhat Enterprise Linux. In total, 4 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2023-5088?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2023-5088 published?: CVE-2023-5088 was published on 2023-11-03 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (4)

cpe:2.3:a:qemu:qemu:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:advanced_virtualization:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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