Vulnerability
curl/libcurl: SOCKS5 heap buffer overflow
This flaw makes curl overflow a heap based buffer in the SOCKS5 proxy handshake. When curl is asked to pass along the hostname to the SOCKS5 proxy to allow that to resolve the address instead of it getting done by curl itself, the maximum length that hostname can be is 255 bytes. If the hostname is detected to be longer than 255 bytes, curl switches to local name resolving and instead passes on the resolved address only to the proxy. Due to a bug, the local variable that means "let the host resolve the name" could get the wrong value during a slow SOCKS5 handshake, and contrary to the intention, copy the too long hostname to the target buffer instead of copying only the resolved address there.
No CVSS 3.x base score yet. Since April 2026 NVD only enriches priority CVEs (KEV, federal and critical software), so most CVEs are scored only if the assigning CNA included a score in the CVE record, or by GHSA for open-source packages. Last record update .
For interim severity, fall back on KEV / EXPLOIT signals and the EPSS percentile (lower panel). Re-check this CVE after one cron tick — the score lands automatically when the source publishes.
Statistically about to be weaponized — top-tier triage urgency.
No VEX statements published for CVE-2023-38545. Vendors publish VEX (Vulnerability Exploitability eXchange) to assert per-product whether a CVE is actually exploitable in their distribution.
No exploitation, limited impact or prevalence