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CVE-2017-16879

Stack-based buffer overflow in the _nc_write_entry function in tinfo/write_entry.c in ncurses 6.0...

7.8 HighFix available

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.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
Required

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

2.39%Up 0.1 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used 7.8

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.

Record
CVE-2017-16879
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0
6.8 MediumAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Weakness
CWE-787
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE List No score

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.

Record
CVE-2017-16879
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2017-8051 No score

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.

Record
EUVD-2017-8051
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-r8vx-h3vx-6wh2 7.8

Stack-based buffer overflow in the _nc_write_entry function in tinfo/write_entry.c in ncurses 6.0...

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.

Record
GHSA-r8vx-h3vx-6wh2
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-787
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2017-16879 7.8

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.

Record
ALPINE-CVE-2017-16879
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVBELL-CVE-2017-16879 7.8

CVE-2017-16879 does not affect BellSoft software

Record
BELL-CVE-2017-16879
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
Show 6 moreShow less
OSV 7.8

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.

Record
CVE-2017-16879
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2017-16879 7.8

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.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2017-16879
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2017-16879 7.8

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.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2017-16879
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 3.0
7.8 HighCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2018-0002 No score

Updated ncurses packages fix security vulnerabilities

Possible RCE via stack-based buffer overflow in the fmt_entry function (CVE-2017-10684).

Possible RCE with format string vulnerability in the fmt_entry function (CVE-2017-10685).

Illegal address access in append_acs (CVE-2017-11112).

Dereferencing NULL pointer in _nc_parse_entry (CVE-2017-11113).

Fix infinite loop in the next_char function in comp_scan.c (CVE-2017-13728).

Fix illegal address access in the _nc_save_str (CVE-2017-13729).

Fix illegal address access in the function _nc_read_entry_source() (CVE-2017-13730).

Fix illegal address access in the function postprocess_termcap() (CVE-2017-13731).

Fix illegal address access in the function dump_uses() (CVE-2017-13732).

Fix illegal address access in the fmt_entry function (CVE-2017-13733).

Fix stack-based buffer overflow in the _nc_write_entry() function (CVE-2017-16879).

Record
MGASA-2018-0002
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2017:3183-1 No score

Security update for ncurses

This update for ncurses fixes the following issues:

Security issues fixed:

  • CVE-2017-13728: Fix infinite loop in the next_char function in comp_scan.c (bsc#1056136).
  • CVE-2017-13729: Fix illegal address access in the _nc_save_str (bsc#1056132).
  • CVE-2017-13730: Fix illegal address access in the function _nc_read_entry_source() (bsc#1056131).
  • CVE-2017-13731: Fix illegal address access in the function postprocess_termcap() (bsc#1056129).
  • CVE-2017-13732: Fix illegal address access in the function dump_uses() (bsc#1056128).
  • CVE-2017-13733: Fix illegal address access in the fmt_entry function (bsc#1056127).
  • CVE-2017-16879: Fix stack-based buffer overflow in the _nc_write_entry() function (bsc#1069530).
Record
SUSE-SU-2017:3183-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUSN-5477-1 No score

ncurses vulnerabilities

Hosein Askari discovered that ncurses was incorrectly performing memory management operations when dealing with long filenames while writing structures into the file system. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service or execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2017-16879)

Chung-Yi Lin discovered that ncurses was incorrectly handling access to invalid memory areas when parsing terminfo or termcap entries where the use-name had invalid syntax. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2018-19211)

It was discovered that ncurses was incorrectly performing bounds checks when processing invalid hashcodes. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service or to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2019-17594)

It was discovered that ncurses was incorrectly handling end-of-string characters when processing terminfo and termcap files. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service or to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2019-17595)

It was discovered that ncurses was incorrectly handling end-of-string characters when converting between termcap and terminfo formats. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service or execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2021-39537)

It was discovered that ncurses was incorrectly performing bounds checks when dealing with corrupt terminfo data while reading a terminfo file. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service or to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2022-29458)

Record
USN-5477-1
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
ncurses
Alpine:v3.10
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.11
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.12
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.13
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.14
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.15
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.16
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.17
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.18
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.19
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
Show 20 moreShow less
Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
ncurses
Alpine:v3.20
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.21
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.22
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.23
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.24
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.4
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.5
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.6
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.7
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.8
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Alpine:v3.9
before 6.0_p20171125-r0
6.0_p20171125-r0
ncurses
Debian:12
before 6.0+20171125-1
6.0+20171125-1
ncurses
Debian:13
before 6.0+20171125-1
6.0+20171125-1
ncurses
Debian:14
before 6.0+20171125-1
6.0+20171125-1
ncurses
Mageia:6
before 6.0-8.1.mga6
6.0-8.1.mga6
ncurses
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 11 SP4
before 5.6-93.12.1
5.6-93.12.1
ncurses
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4
before 5.6-93.12.1
5.6-93.12.1
ncurses
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 11 SP4
before 5.6-93.12.1
5.6-93.12.1
ncurses
Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS
before 5.9+20140118-1ubuntu1+esm2, plus listed versions
5.9+20130608-1ubuntu15.9+20131221-1ubuntu15.9+20140118-1ubuntu15.9+20140118-1ubuntu1+esm1
5.9+20140118-1ubuntu1+esm2
ncurses
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS
before 6.0+20160213-1ubuntu1+esm2, plus listed versions
5.9+20150516-2ubuntu16.0+20151024-2ubuntu16.0+20151024-2ubuntu26.0+20160213-1ubuntu16.0+20160213-1ubuntu1+esm1
6.0+20160213-1ubuntu1+esm2

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

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

In short

CVE-2017-16879 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) in Invisible-island Ncurses, published November 22, 2017. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 2.39%, the 83rd percentile. Fixed in ncurses 6.0_p20171125-r0.

References

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