Description
A heap out-of-bounds read flaw was found in builtin.c in the gawk package. This issue may lead to a crash and could be used to read sensitive information.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | gawk | — | 5.1.1 |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | — | — |
| Fedora | Fedora | — | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | gawk | 1:5.2.1-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | gawk | 1:5.2.1-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | gawk | 1:5.2.1-1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | gawk | 1:5.1.0-1ubuntu0.1 | USN-6373-1 |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | gawk | 1:5.0.1+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1 | USN-6373-1 |
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | gawk | 1:4.1.4+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 | USN-6373-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | gawk | 1:4.1.3+dfsg-0.1ubuntu0.1~esm1 | USN-6373-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | gawk | 1:4.0.1+dfsg-2.1ubuntu2+esm1 | USN-6373-1 |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 15 SP5 | gawk | 4.2.1-150000.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3440-1 |
| SLES 15 SP4 | gawk | 4.2.1-150000.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3440-1 |
| SLES 12 SP5 | gawk | 4.1.0-5.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3431-1 |
Show 7 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 12 SP5 | gawk | 4.1.0-5.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3431-1 |
| SLE Micro 5.4 | gawk | 4.2.1-150000.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3440-1 |
| SLE Micro 5.3 | gawk | 4.2.1-150000.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3440-1 |
| SLE Micro 5.2 | gawk | 4.2.1-150000.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3440-1 |
| SLE Micro 5.1 | gawk | 4.2.1-150000.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3440-1 |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.2 | gawk | 4.2.1-150000.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3440-1 |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.2 | gawk | 4.2.1-150000.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3440-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | gawk | 4.2.1-150000.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3440-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.4 | gawk | 4.2.1-150000.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3440-1 |
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Leap Micro 5.4 | gawk | 4.2.1-150000.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3440-1 |
| openSUSE Leap Micro 5.3 | gawk | 4.2.1-150000.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2023:3440-1 |
Amazon Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2023 | gawk +3 | 5.1.0-3.amzn2023.0.3 | ALAS2023-2023-292 |
| Amazon Linux 2 | gawk | 4.0.2-4.amzn2.1.3 | ALAS2-2023-2357 |
Azure Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Linux 2 (CBL-Mariner) | gawk | 5.1.1-1 | — |
Advisories 5
- USN-6373-1 gawk vulnerability Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Jun 29, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2023:3440-1 Security update for gawk SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2023:3431-1 Security update for gawk SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · May 2, 2025
- ALAS2-2023-2357 Low: gawk security update (Amazon Linux 2) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Dec 4, 2023
- ALAS2023-2023-292 Low: gawk security update (Amazon Linux 2023) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Aug 23, 2023
References
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-4156 vdb-entry
- RHBZ#2215930 issue-tracking