CVE-2023-27477: Wasmtime Wasmtime Vulnerable To Miscompilation Of Vulnerability

LOW
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-xm67-587q-r2vw
CVSS 3.1
CWE-193
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-27477 is a LOW (CVSS 3.1) wasmtime vulnerable to miscompilation of vulnerability (CWE-193: Off-by-one Error) affecting Wasmtime libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves wasmtime vulnerable to miscompilation of `i8x16.select` with the same inputs on x86_64. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 4.0.1, 5.0.1, 6.0.1, 0.91.1, 0.92.1, 0.93.1.

CVE-2023-27477 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-27477
GHSA Identifier GHSA-xm67-587q-r2vw
Severity LOW
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 3.1
CWE Classification CWE-193: Off-by-one Error
Affected Product Wasmtime
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 3.1

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity Low (I:L)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2023-27477

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Wasmtime dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

wasmtime fixed: 4.0.1
Upgrade wasmtime to 4.0.1
wasmtime fixed: 5.0.1
Upgrade wasmtime to 5.0.1
wasmtime fixed: 6.0.1
Upgrade wasmtime to 6.0.1
cranelift-codegen fixed: 0.91.1
Upgrade cranelift-codegen to 0.91.1
cranelift-codegen fixed: 0.92.1
Upgrade cranelift-codegen to 0.92.1
cranelift-codegen fixed: 0.93.1
Upgrade cranelift-codegen to 0.93.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

inspect dependencies for wasmtime

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2023-27477, inspect your project dependencies for Wasmtime:

inspect dependencies for wasmtime

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Wasmtime in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 4.0.1), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-193: Off-by-one Error, where a product calculates or uses an incorrect maximum or minimum value that is 1 more, or 1 less, than the correct value. In Wasmtime, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Impact Wasmtime's code generation backend, Cranelift, has a bug on x86_64 platforms for the WebAssembly `i8x16.select` instruction which will produce the wrong results when the same operand is provided to the instruction and some of the selected indices are greater than 16. There is an off-by-one error in the calculation of the mask to the `pshufb` instruction which causes incorrect results to be returned if lanes are selected from the second vector. The impact of this miscompilation is that the WebAssembly instruction can produce incorrect results for the `i8x16.select` instruction. This should have no effect on embedders and does not represent a sandbox escape, for example. Guest programs, however, may behave unexpectedly due to the incorrect result of this instruction. In extreme cases if a guest program is handling untrusted input then the guest program may deviate from its intended execution, for example calling an imported host function with different arguments than intended. This still does not impact embedders, however, because there is no form of privilege escalation with the guest. At this time it's expected that this codegen pattern doesn't show up in the wild that often. LLVM-generated modules, for example, do not appear to conventionally or idiomatically generate code which would hit this bug. It is possible, however, to still write code which triggers this, so it's recommended for embedders to analyze existing modules to see if any are affected. ### Patches This codegen bug has been fixed in Wasmtime 6.0.1, 5.0.1, and 4.0.1. Users are recommended to upgrade to these updated versions. ### Workarounds If upgrading is not an option for you at this time, you can avoid this miscompilation by [disabling the Wasm simd proposal](https://docs.rs/wasmtime/latest/wasmtime/struct.Config.html#method.wasm_simd) ```rust config.wasm_simd(false); ``` Additionally the bug is only present on x86_64 hosts. Other platforms such as AArch64 and s390x are not affected. ### References * [The WebAssembly simd proposal](https://github.com/webassembly/simd) * [Mailing list announcement](https://groups.google.com/a/bytecodealliance.org/g/sec-announce/c/Mov-ItrNJsQ) * [GitHub advisory](https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/security/advisories/GHSA-xm67-587q-r2vw) * [Commit to fix this issue on Wasmtime's `main` branch](https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/commit/5dc2bbccbb363e474d2c9a1b8e38a89a43bbd5d1) ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Reach out to us on [the Bytecode Alliance Zulip chat](https://bytecodealliance.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/217126-wasmtime) * Open an issue in [the bytecodealliance/wasmtime repository](https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/)

CVE-2023-27477 Affected Wasmtime Versions

6 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
4.0.15.0.16.0.10.91.10.92.10.93.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
wasmtime
crates.io
≥ 1.0.0
< 4.0.1
4.0.1
wasmtime
crates.io
≥ 5.0.0
< 5.0.1
5.0.1
wasmtime
crates.io
≥ 6.0.0
< 6.0.1
6.0.1
cranelift-codegen
crates.io
≥ 0.88.0
< 0.91.1
0.91.1
cranelift-codegen
crates.io
≥ 0.92.0
< 0.92.1
0.92.1
cranelift-codegen
crates.io
≥ 0.93.0
< 0.93.1
0.93.1

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-27477?
CVE-2023-27477 is a security vulnerability in Wasmtime involving wasmtime vulnerable to miscompilation of `i8x16.select` with the same inputs on x86_64 under CWE-193: Off-by-one Error.
Which Wasmtime versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 4.0.1, 5.0.1, 6.0.1, 0.91.1, 0.92.1, 0.93.1 across affected packages: wasmtime, cranelift-codegen.
What version fixes CVE-2023-27477?
Upgrading to 4.0.1, 5.0.1, 6.0.1, 0.91.1, 0.92.1, 0.93.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is wasmtime affected?
Yes, wasmtime is affected in releases prior to 4.0.1, 5.0.1, 6.0.1. Upgrade your dependency to 4.0.1, 5.0.1, 6.0.1 or later.
Is cranelift-codegen affected?
Yes, cranelift-codegen is affected in releases prior to 0.91.1, 0.92.1, 0.93.1. Upgrade your dependency to 0.91.1, 0.92.1, 0.93.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-27477?
CVE-2023-27477 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 3.1 (LOW) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-27477?
CVE-2023-27477 is classified under CWE-193: Off-by-one Error (A product calculates or uses an incorrect maximum or minimum value that is 1 more, or 1 less, than the correct value.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2023-27477?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for wasmtime'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-xm67-587q-r2vw",
  "modified" : "2025-05-02T12:52:23Z",
  "published" : "2023-03-09T00:09:03Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-27477" ],
  "summary" : "wasmtime vulnerable to miscompilation of `i8x16.select` with the same inputs on x86_64",
  "details" : "### Impact\n\nWasmtime's code generation backend, Cranelift, has a bug on x86_64 platforms for the WebAssembly `i8x16.select` instruction which will produce the wrong results when the same operand is provided to the instruction and some of the selected indices are greater than 16. There is an off-by-one error  in the calculation of the mask to the `pshufb` instruction which causes incorrect results to be returned if lanes are selected from the second vector.\n\nThe impact of this miscompilation is that the WebAssembly instruction can produce incorrect results for the `i8x16.select` instruction. This should have no effect on embedders and does not represent a sandbox escape, for example. Guest programs, however, may behave unexpectedly due to the incorrect result of this instruction. In extreme cases if a guest program is handling untrusted input then the guest program may deviate from its intended execution, for example calling an imported host function with different arguments than intended. This still does not impact embedders, however, because there is no form of privilege escalation with the guest.\n\nAt this time it's expected that this codegen pattern doesn't show up in the wild that often. LLVM-generated modules, for example, do not appear to conventionally or idiomatically generate code which would hit this bug. It is possible, however, to still write code which triggers this, so it's recommended for embedders to analyze existing modules to see if any are affected.\n\n### Patches\n\nThis codegen bug has been fixed in Wasmtime 6.0.1, 5.0.1, and 4.0.1. Users are recommended to upgrade to these updated versions.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nIf upgrading is not an option for you at this time, you can avoid this miscompilation by [disabling the Wasm simd proposal](https://docs.rs/wasmtime/latest/wasmtime/struct.Config.html#method.wasm_simd)\n\n```rust\nconfig.wasm_simd(false);\n```\n\nAdditionally the bug is only present on x86_64 hosts. Other platforms such as AArch64 and s390x are not affected.\n\n### References\n\n* [The WebAssembly simd proposal](https://github.com/webassembly/simd)\n* [Mailing list announcement](https://groups.google.com/a/bytecodealliance.org/g/sec-announce/c/Mov-ItrNJsQ)\n* [GitHub advisory](https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/security/advisories/GHSA-xm67-587q-r2vw)\n* [Commit to fix this issue on Wasmtime's `main` branch](https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/commit/5dc2bbccbb363e474d2c9a1b8e38a89a43bbd5d1)\n\n### For more information\n\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n\n* Reach out to us on [the Bytecode Alliance Zulip chat](https://bytecodealliance.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/217126-wasmtime)\n* Open an issue in [the bytecodealliance/wasmtime repository](https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/)",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "wasmtime"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "1.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "4.0.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "wasmtime"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "5.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "5.0.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "wasmtime"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "6.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "6.0.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "cranelift-codegen"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.88.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.91.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "cranelift-codegen"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.92.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.92.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "cranelift-codegen"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.93.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.93.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/security/advisories/GHSA-xm67-587q-r2vw"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-27477"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/commit/5dc2bbccbb363e474d2c9a1b8e38a89a43bbd5d1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://docs.rs/wasmtime/latest/wasmtime/struct.Config.html#method.wasm_simd"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/webassembly/simd"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://groups.google.com/a/bytecodealliance.org/g/sec-announce/c/Mov-ItrNJsQ"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2023-0093.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-193" ],
    "severity" : "LOW",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-03-09T00:09:03Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-03-08T21:15:00Z"
  }
}