CVE-2017-16879
Medium
Elevated severity or exploit probability.
CVSS base
7.8
HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS — probability of exploitation (30 days)
2.4%
83.3th percentile
CISA KEV
Not listed
Weakness / dates
CWE-787
Published 2017-11-22 · modified 2026-07-23
CVSS breakdown
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
| Attack Vector | L | Local |
| Attack Complexity | L | Low |
| Privileges Required | N | None |
| User Interaction | R | Required |
| Scope | U | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | H | High |
| Integrity | H | High |
| Availability | H | High |
Timeline
- 2017-11-22 — Published (NVD)
- 2026-07-23 — Last modified (NVD)
Description
Stack-based buffer overflow in the _nc_write_entry function in tinfo/write_entry.c in ncurses 6.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted terminfo file, as demonstrated by tic.
Affected
References
- http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/NEWS.html#t20171125
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/145045/GNU-ncurses-6.0-tic-Denial-Of-Service.html
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r58af02e294bd07f487e2c64ffc0a29b837db5600e33b6e698b9d696b%40%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rf4c02775860db415b4955778a131c2795223f61cb8c6a450893651e4%40%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201804-13
- https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/viewAlert.x?alertId=57695
- http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/NEWS.html#t20171125
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/145045/GNU-ncurses-6.0-tic-Denial-Of-Service.html
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r58af02e294bd07f487e2c64ffc0a29b837db5600e33b6e698b9d696b%40%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rf4c02775860db415b4955778a131c2795223f61cb8c6a450893651e4%40%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201804-13
- https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/viewAlert.x?alertId=57695