CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2017-10685

Use of Externally-Controlled Format String

Published: Jun 29, 2017 | Modified: Oct 03, 2019
CVSS 3.x
9.8
CRITICAL
Source:
NVD
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.x
7.5 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:N
Ubuntu
NEGLIGIBLE

In ncurses 6.0, there is a format string vulnerability in the fmt_entry function. A crafted input will lead to a remote arbitrary code execution attack.

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
Ncurses Gnu 6.0 (including) 6.0 (including)
Ncurses Ubuntu artful *
Ncurses Ubuntu esm-infra/xenial *
Ncurses Ubuntu precise/esm *
Ncurses Ubuntu trusty *
Ncurses Ubuntu trusty/esm *
Ncurses Ubuntu upstream *
Ncurses Ubuntu vivid/ubuntu-core *
Ncurses Ubuntu xenial *
Ncurses Ubuntu yakkety *
Ncurses Ubuntu zesty *

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