CVE-2023-38669 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Use After Free vulnerability in paddlepaddle. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for paddlepaddle — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Use after free in PaddlePaddle
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-38669.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
paddlepaddleReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Use after free in paddle.diagonal in PaddlePaddle before 2.5.0. This resulted in a potentially exploitable condition.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | paddlepaddle | all versions | 2.5.0pip install --upgrade 'paddlepaddle==2.5.0' |
Affected Products
paddlepaddlepaddlepaddleResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for paddlepaddle, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update paddlepaddle to 2.5.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-38669 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Constrain what reaches the vulnerable code: limit the size and shape of untrusted input, isolate the affected component in a sandboxed or least-privileged process, and enable the platform's memory-safety mitigations (ASLR, stack protector, hardened allocator) so an out-of-bounds access is more likely to fail closed than to be exploitable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-38669 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.