mitre / mitre/secure-coding-case-studies

Proposed case study: CWE-787 / CVE-2023-4863 (libwebp WebP heap overflow)

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Description

We propose adding a secure coding case study for CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) based on CVE-2023-4863, a widely exploited heap buffer overflow in libwebp (WebP codec).

Group member(s):

  • Vinaya Mahajan (G01542005)
  • Shatakshi Rathore (G01545382)

Planned filename: c/secure-coding-case-study-cwe-787-cve-2023-4863.md

Why this is a good case study: This vulnerability impacted a widely deployed image-decoding library, was reported as exploited in the wild, and has a clear upstream patch. It provides strong prevention lessons for native-code parsers/decoders (bounds/invariant checks on derived indices, sanitizer-backed fuzzing, sandboxing/isolation, and rapid dependency updates).

References:

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Create the case study at c/secure-coding-case-study-cwe-787-cve-2023-4863.md. Start with the CVE record and the referenced libwebp fix commit, then document the CWE-787 vulnerability, its impact, and the stated prevention lessons. Done means the case study covers the real issue and includes the provided references.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
documentation, security
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
58/100

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