CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2009-3163

Use of Externally-Controlled Format String

Published: Sep 10, 2009 | Modified: Oct 23, 2012
CVSS 3.x
N/A
Source:
NVD
CVSS 2.x
7.5 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu

Multiple format string vulnerabilities in lib/silcclient/command.c in Secure Internet Live Conferencing (SILC) Toolkit before 1.1.10, and SILC Client 1.1.8 and earlier, allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via format string specifiers in a channel name, related to (1) silc_client_command_topic, (2) silc_client_command_kick, (3) silc_client_command_leave, and (4) silc_client_command_users.

Weakness

The product uses a function that accepts a format string as an argument, but the format string originates from an external source.

Affected Software

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Silc_client Silcnet 1.1.6 1.1.6
Silc_client Silcnet * 1.1.8
Silc_toolkit Silcnet 1.1.3 1.1.3
Silc_toolkit Silcnet 1.1.5 1.1.5
Silc_toolkit Silcnet * 1.1.9
Silc_client Silcnet 1.1.1 1.1.1
Silc_client Silcnet 1.1.2 1.1.2
Silc_toolkit Silcnet 1.1.8 1.1.8
Silc_client Silcnet 1.1.3 1.1.3
Silc_toolkit Silcnet 1.1 1.1
Silc_client Silcnet 1.1.4 1.1.4
Silc_toolkit Silcnet 1.1.1 1.1.1
Silc_toolkit Silcnet 1.1.6 1.1.6
Silc_client Silcnet 1.1.7 1.1.7
Silc_toolkit Silcnet 1.1.4 1.1.4
Silc_toolkit Silcnet 1.1.2 1.1.2

Extended Description

When an attacker can modify an externally-controlled format string, this can lead to buffer overflows, denial of service, or data representation problems. It should be noted that in some circumstances, such as internationalization, the set of format strings is externally controlled by design. If the source of these format strings is trusted (e.g. only contained in library files that are only modifiable by the system administrator), then the external control might not itself pose a vulnerability.

Potential Mitigations

References