CVE-2023-38688 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-311 vulnerability in twitch-tui. A fix is available for twitch-tui — see the affected versions and patch details below.
twitch-tui's connection is not encrypted
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.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-38688.
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
twitch-tuiReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects crates.io packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
twitch-tui provides Twitch chat in a terminal. Prior to version 2.4.1, the connection is not using TLS for communication. In the configuration of the irc connection, the software disables TLS, which makes all communication to Twitch IRC servers unencrypted. As a result, communication, including auth tokens, can be sniffed. Version 2.4.1 has a patch for this issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | twitch-tui | all versions | 2.4.1cargo update -p twitch-tui --precise 2.4.1 |
Affected Products
twitch-tuixithriusDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for twitch-tui, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update twitch-tui to 2.4.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-38688 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-38688 in your dependencies?
Find it across crates.io, including transitive dependencies.