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CVE-2017-20205

Valve Source SDK Stack-Based Buffer Overflow RCE

9.2 Critical

Valve's Source SDK (source-sdk-2013)'s ragdoll model parsing logic contains a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability.The tokenizer function nexttoken copies characters from an input string into a fixed-size stack buffer without performing bounds checks. When ParseKeyValue processes a collisionpair rule longer than the destination buffer (256 bytes), an overflow of the stack buffer szToken can occur and overwrite the function return address. A remote attacker can trigger the vulnerable code by supplying a specially crafted ragdoll model which causes the oversized collisionpair rule to be parsed, resulting in remote code execution on affected clients or servers. Valve has addressed this issue in many of their Source games, but independently-developed games must manually apply patch.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

0.69%Up 0.3 points since Oct 15, 2025
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 9.2

Valve Source SDK Stack-Based Buffer Overflow RCE

Valve's Source SDK (source-sdk-2013)'s ragdoll model parsing logic contains a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability.The tokenizer function nexttoken copies characters from an input string into a fixed-size stack buffer without performing bounds checks. When ParseKeyValue processes a collisionpair rule longer than the destination buffer (256 bytes), an overflow of the stack buffer szToken can occur and overwrite the function return address. A remote attacker can trigger the vulnerable code by supplying a specially crafted ragdoll model which causes the oversized collisionpair rule to be parsed, resulting in remote code execution on affected clients or servers. Valve has addressed this issue in many of their Source games, but independently-developed games must manually apply patch.

Record
CVE-2017-20205
CVSS 4.0
9.2 CriticalCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Weakness
CWE-121
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2017-18920 9.2

Valve's Source SDK (source-sdk-2013)'s ragdoll model parsing logic contains a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability.The tokenizer function nexttoken copies characters from an input string into a fixed-size stack buffer without performing bounds checks. When ParseKeyValue processes a collisionpair rule longer than the destination buffer (256 bytes), an overflow of the stack buffer szToken can occur and overwrite the function return address. A remote attacker can trigger the vulnerable code by supplying a specially crafted ragdoll model which causes the oversized collisionpair rule to be parsed, resulting in remote code execution on affected clients or servers. Valve has addressed this issue in many of their Source games, but independently-developed games must manually apply patch.

Record
EUVD-2017-18920
CVSS 4.0
9.2 CriticalCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Updated
2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-g2mq-5mgx-wg6w 9.2

Valve's Source SDK (source-sdk-2013)'s ragdoll model parsing logic contains a stack-based buffer...

Valve's Source SDK (source-sdk-2013)'s ragdoll model parsing logic contains a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability.The tokenizer function nexttoken copies characters from an input string into a fixed-size stack buffer without performing bounds checks. When ParseKeyValue processes a collisionpair rule longer than the destination buffer (256 bytes), an overflow of the stack buffer szToken can occur and overwrite the function return address. A remote attacker can trigger the vulnerable code by supplying a specially crafted ragdoll model which causes the oversized collisionpair rule to be parsed, resulting in remote code execution on affected clients or servers. Valve has addressed this issue in many of their Source games, but independently-developed games must manually apply patch.

Record
GHSA-g2mq-5mgx-wg6w
CVSS 4.0
9.2 CriticalCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Weakness
CWE-121
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 9.2

Valve's Source SDK (source-sdk-2013)'s ragdoll model parsing logic contains a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability.The tokenizer function nexttoken copies characters from an input string into a fixed-size stack buffer without performing bounds checks. When ParseKeyValue processes a collisionpair rule longer than the destination buffer (256 bytes), an overflow of the stack buffer szToken can occur and overwrite the function return address. A remote attacker can trigger the vulnerable code by supplying a specially crafted ragdoll model which causes the oversized collisionpair rule to be parsed, resulting in remote code execution on affected clients or servers. Valve has addressed this issue in many of their Source games, but independently-developed games must manually apply patch.

Record
CVE-2017-20205
CVSS 4.0
9.2 CriticalCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Weakness
CWE-121
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
facts
first indexedCVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2017-20205 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.2) in Valve Software Source Sdk (source-sdk-2013), published October 15, 2025. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.69%, the 53rd percentile. No source names a fixed version.

References

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