Advisory Details

This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Ashlar-Vellum Cobalt. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file.

The specific flaw exists within the parsing of XE files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of a user-supplied value prior to dereferencing it as a pointer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process.

07/22/22 – The ZDI asked for a Vendor PSIRT contact.

07/29/22 – The vendor acknowledged the report.

09/20/22 – The vendor states the vulnerability report was marked as spam by support, and the vendor asked the ZDI to resend the report.

09/20/22 – The ZDI resent the report.

06/07/23 – The ZDI asked for an update.

06/08/23 – The vendor states that the vulnerability would be fixed in a future build.

06/08/23 – The ZDI informed the vendor that the case will be published as a zero-day advisory on 06/15/23. 

-- Mitigation: Given the nature of the vulnerability, the only salient mitigation strategy is to restrict interaction with the application.

• 2022-07-27 - Vulnerability reported to vendor
• 2023-06-15 - Coordinated public release of advisory