CVE-2020-5254
NetHack hilite_status parsing privilege escalation
CVE-2020-5254 is a low vulnerability (CVSS 3.9) in Nethack, published March 10, 2020. Public exploit code exists. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.13%, the 66th percentile. Fixed in nethack 3.6.6-1.
In NetHack before 3.6.6, some out-of-bound values for the hilite_status option can be exploited. NetHack 3.6.6 resolves this issue.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
3.9
NetHack hilite_status parsing privilege escalation
In NetHack before 3.6.6, some out-of-bound values for the hilite_status option can be exploited. NetHack 3.6.6 resolves this issue.
- Record
CVE-2020-5254- CVSS 3.1
- 3.9 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-125
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-26464
3.9
In NetHack before 3.6.6, some out-of-bound values for the hilite_status option can be exploited. NetHack 3.6.6 resolves this issue.
- Record
EUVD-2020-26464- CVSS 3.1
- 3.9 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
NVD
3.9
In NetHack before 3.6.6, some out-of-bound values for the hilite_status option can be exploited. NetHack 3.6.6 resolves this issue.
- Record
CVE-2020-5254- CVSS 3.1
- 3.9 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N - CVSS 3.1
- 8.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 6.8 Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-125, CWE-119
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
8.1
In NetHack before 3.6.6, some out-of-bound values for the hilite_status option can be exploited. NetHack 3.6.6 resolves this issue.
- Record
CVE-2020-5254- CVSS 3.1
- 8.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2020-5254
8.1
In NetHack before 3.6.6, some out-of-bound values for the hilite_status option can be exploited. NetHack 3.6.6 resolves this issue.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2020-5254- CVSS 3.1
- 8.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2020-5254
3.9
In NetHack before 3.6.6, some out-of-bound values for the hilite_status option can be exploited. NetHack 3.6.6 resolves this issue.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2020-5254- CVSS 3.1
- 3.9 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N - CVSS 3.1
- 8.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2021-0077 No score
Updated nethack packages fix security vulnerabilities
Updated nethack packages fix security vulnerabilities:
NetHack 3.6.x before 3.6.4 is prone to a buffer overflow vulnerability when reading very long lines from configuration files. This affects systems that have NetHack installed suid/sgid, and shared systems that allow users to upload their own configuration files (CVE-2019-19905).
In NetHack before 3.6.5, unknown options starting with -de and -i can cause a buffer overflow resulting in a crash or remote code execution/privilege escalation. This vulnerability affects systems that have NetHack installed suid/sgid and shared systems that allow users to influence command line options (CVE-2020-5209).
In NetHack before 3.6.5, an invalid argument to the -w command line option can cause a buffer overflow resulting in a crash or remote code execution/privilege escalation. This vulnerability affects systems that have NetHack installed suid/sgid and shared systems that allow users to influence command line options (CVE-2020-5210).
In NetHack before 3.6.5, an invalid extended command in value for the AUTOCOMPLETE configuration file option can cause a buffer overflow resulting in a crash or remote code execution/privilege escalation. This vulnerability affects systems that have NetHack installed suid/sgid and shared systems that allow users to upload their own configuration files (CVE-2020-5211).
In NetHack before 3.6.5, an extremely long value for the MENUCOLOR configuration file option can cause a buffer overflow resulting in a crash or remote code execution/privilege escalation. This vulnerability affects systems that have NetHack installed suid/sgid and shared systems that allow users to upload their own configuration files (CVE-2020-5212).
In NetHack before 3.6.5, too long of a value for the SYMBOL configuration file option can cause a buffer overflow resulting in a crash or remote code execution/privilege escalation. This vulnerability affects systems that have NetHack installed suid/sgid and shared systems that allow users to upload their own configuration files (CVE-2020-5213).
In NetHack before 3.6.5, detecting an unknown configuration file option can cause a buffer overflow resulting in a crash or remote code execution/privilege escalation. This vulnerability affects systems that have NetHack installed suid/sgid and shared systems that allow users to upload their own configuration files (CVE-2020-5214).
In NetHack before 3.6.6, some out-of-bound values for the hilite_status option can be exploited (CVE-2020-5254).
The nethack package has been updated to version 3.6.6, fixing these issues and other bugs. See the upstream release notes for details.
- Record
MGASA-2021-0077- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
Public exploits
Links only. Every CVE stores no exploit code.
| Source | Link | Date |
|---|---|---|
| PoC in GitHub | dpmdpm2/CVE-2020-5254 | 2020-03-09 |
History
| When | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-03 | aliases | EUVD |
| 2026-11-02 | created | CVE List, NVD, OSV, PoC in GitHub |
References
github.com/NetHack/NetHack/security/advisories/GHSA-2ch6-6r8h-m2p9
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-5254
advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2021-0077.html
bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=26228
nethack.org/v362/release.html
nethack.org/v363/release.html
Show 13 moreShow less
nethack.org/v364/release.html
nethack.org/v365/release.html
nethack.org/v366/release.html
nethack.org/security/CVE-2019-19905.html
nethack.org/security/CVE-2020-5209.html
nethack.org/security/CVE-2020-5210.html
nethack.org/security/CVE-2020-5211.html
nethack.org/security/CVE-2020-5212.html
nethack.org/security/CVE-2020-5213.html
nethack.org/security/CVE-2020-5214.html
nethack.org/security/CVE-2020-5254.html
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-5254
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-5254