How severe is GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6?

GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6 has a CVSS score of 1.9/10, rated LOW. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6?

GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6 affects the following packages: linux-loader (crates.io). Ecosystems affected: crates.io.

How do I fix GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6?

Update linux-loader to 0.8.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6 in my crates.io dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for linux-loader, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Stop feeding it untrusted input: reject or quarantine files and payloads from unverified sources until you can upgrade, restrict accepted formats to the ones you actually need, and run the parsing or decoding step in a least-privileged sandbox or short-lived worker so a crash or corrupted read cannot reach the rest of the process.

Is GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6?

GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.2%, placing it in the 12th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6?

GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6 is classified as Buffer Overflow (CWE-119), Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125). These weakness types describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6 published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6 was published on December 12, 2022 and was last updated on November 8, 2023. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🦀

🦀 crates.io

Not in CISA KEV

LOW severity

linux-loader reading beyond EOF could lead to infinite loopGHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6

LOWFix: rust-vmm/linux-loader#125

GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6 is a low-severity (CVSS 1.9) Buffer Overflow vulnerability in linux-loader. A fix is available for linux-loader — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Also known asCVE-2022-23523

Published

Dec 12, 2022

Updated

Nov 8, 2023

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 11, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.2%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs12th percentile — riskier than 12% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

1 pkg affected

🦀linux-loader

Real-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

Impact

The linux-loader crate used the offsets and sizes provided in the ELF headers to determine the offsets to read from. If those offsets pointed beyond the end of the file this could lead to an infinite loop. Virtual Machine Monitors using the linux-loader crate could enter an infinite loop if the ELF header of the kernel they are loading was modified in a malicious manner.

Patches

The issue has been addressed in 0.8.1

Workarounds

The issue can be mitigated by ensuring that only trusted kernel images are loaded or by verifying that the headers to not point beyond the end of the file.

References

See: https://github.com/rust-vmm/linux-loader/pull/125

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🦀crates.io	`linux-loader`	all versions	0.8.1`cargo update -p linux-loader --precise 0.8.1`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

linux-loaderlinux-loader_project

< 0.8.1

range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for linux-loader, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update linux-loader to 0.8.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-52h2-m2cf-9jh6 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop feeding it untrusted input: reject or quarantine files and payloads from unverified sources until you can upgrade, restrict accepted formats to the ones you actually need, and run the parsing or decoding step in a least-privileged sandbox or short-lived worker so a crash or corrupted read cannot reach the rest of the process.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact The linux-loader crate used the offsets and sizes provided in the ELF headers to determine the offsets to read from. If those offsets pointed beyond the end of the file this could lead to an infinite loop. Virtual Machine Monitors using the `linux-loader` crate could enter an infinite loop if the ELF header of the kernel they are loading was modified in a malicious manner. ### Patches The issue has been addressed in 0.8.1 ### Workarounds The issue can be mitigated by ensuring that only trusted kernel images are loaded or by verifying that the headers to not point beyond the end of