CVE-2023-43688
Deferred Deferred - Pending Action

Heap Buffer Overflow in Malwarebytes

Publication date: 2026-06-09

Last updated on: 2026-06-09

Assigner: MITRE

Description
An issue was discovered in Malwarebytes 4.x and 5.x (and Nebula 2020-10-21 and later). There is a Heap buffer overflow in various buffer encryption utilities.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-06-09
Last Modified
2026-06-09
Generated
2026-06-30
AI Q&A
2026-06-09
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-28
NVD
CVE-2023-43688

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 5 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
malwarebytes malwarebytes From 4.0.0 (inc)
malwarebytes malwarebytes From 5.0.0 (inc)
malwarebytes nebula From 2020-10-21 (inc)
malwarebytes malwarebytes to 4.6.14.326 (exc)
malwarebytes malwarebytes to 5.1.5.116 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-122 A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc().

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Executive Summary

CVE-2023-43688 is a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability found in Malwarebytes versions 4.x and 5.x, as well as the Nebula platform from October 2020 onwards. It affects certain buffer encryption utilities within these products. A heap buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a buffer located in the heap than it can hold, potentially leading to memory corruption.

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-122 and has a high severity CVSS score of 7.5. However, the likelihood of exploitation is considered low because the affected utility functions were never included in released software packages.

Compliance Impact

The provided information does not specify any direct impact of this vulnerability on compliance with common standards and regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.

Impact Analysis

If exploited, this heap buffer overflow vulnerability could lead to memory corruption, which might allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, cause a denial of service, or crash the affected application. However, the risk is mitigated by the fact that the vulnerable functions were not included in released versions of the software.

To avoid potential impact, users are recommended to upgrade to patched versions: Malwarebytes 4.6.14.326 or later, Malwarebytes 5.1.5.116 or later, and Nebula platform updates released in June 2024.

Detection Guidance

There is no specific information provided about detection methods or commands to identify this vulnerability on your network or system.

Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate this vulnerability, you should upgrade Malwarebytes to version 4.6.14.326 or later if you are using the 4.x series, or to version 5.1.5.116 or later if you are using the 5.x series.

For the Nebula platform, apply updates released in June 2024 or later.

Upgrading to these versions addresses the heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the buffer encryption utilities.

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