---
id: CVE-2023-38252
title: 'W3m: out of bounds read in strnew_size() at w3m/str.c'
summary: >-
  An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in
  Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a
  crafted HTML file.
severity: medium
cvss: 4.7
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cvssSource: cna
cwe:
  - CWE-125
vendor: Red Hat
product: w3m
affected:
  - w3m
published: '2023-07-14'
updated: '2026-11-07'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-07T11:32:43.189Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-38252'
references:
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-38252'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2222775'
    label: RHBZ#2222775
  - url: 'https://github.com/tats/w3m/issues/270'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00358
epssPercentile: 0.29742
ingestedAt: '2026-11-07T12:16:41.110Z'
---

## Overview

An out-of-bounds read flaw was found in w3m, in the Strnew_size function in Str.c. This issue may allow an attacker to cause a denial of service through a crafted HTML file.

## Affected

- `w3m`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.