FirebirdSQL Firebird prior 4.0.4.2981/5.0.0.1176 SET BIND Statement allocation of resources

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in FirebirdSQL Firebird. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the component SET BIND Statement Handler. The manipulation leads to allocation of resources. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2023-41038. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in FirebirdSQL Firebird. It has been rated as critical. This issue affects an unknown functionality of the component SET BIND Statement Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a allocation of resources vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-770. The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated, in violation of the intended security policy for that actor. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

Firebird is a relational database. Versions 4.0.0 through 4.0.3 and version 5.0 beta1 are vulnerable to a server crash when a user uses a specific form of SET BIND statement. Any non-privileged user with minimum access to a server may type a statement with a long `CHAR` length, which causes the server to crash due to stack corruption. Versions 4.0.4.2981 and 5.0.0.117 contain fixes for this issue. No known workarounds are available.

The advisory is shared at github.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-41038 since 08/22/2023. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1499 for this issue.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 239736 (TencentOS Server 4: firebird (TSSA-2025:0031)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 4.0.4.2981 or 5.0.0.1176 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (239736). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Database Administration Software

Vendor

• FirebirdSQL

Name

• Firebird

License

• open-source

Website

• Product: https://github.com/FirebirdSQL/firebird/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion