{"id":"CVE-2020-5253","aliases":["DEBIAN-CVE-2020-5253","EUVD-2020-26463","GHSA-2c7p-3fj4-223m","UBUNTU-CVE-2020-5253","openSUSE-SU-2025:14898-1"],"status":"published","title":"Privilege escalation in NetHack","description":"NetHack before version 3.6.0 allowed malicious use of escaping of characters in the configuration file (usually .nethackrc) which could be exploited. This bug is patched in NetHack 3.6.0.","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":3.9,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N","level":"low","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-10","score":0.00543,"percentile":0.45919,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":true},"cwes":["CWE-184","CWE-269"],"published":"2020-03-10T16:35:14Z","modified":"2026-10-26T12:02:05Z","fixes":[{"ecosystem":"Debian:12","package":"nethack","fixed_in":["3.6.0-1"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Debian:13","package":"nethack","fixed_in":["3.6.0-1"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Debian:14","package":"nethack","fixed_in":["3.6.0-1"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"openSUSE:Tumbleweed","package":"nethack","fixed_in":["3.4.3-6.1"],"sources":["osv"]}],"affected":[{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Debian:12","package":"nethack","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"3.6.0-1"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Debian:13","package":"nethack","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"3.6.0-1"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Debian:14","package":"nethack","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"3.6.0-1"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:16.04:LTS","package":"nethack","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["3.4.3-15","3.4.3-15build1"]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"openSUSE:Tumbleweed","package":"nethack","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"3.4.3-6.1"}]}]}],"products":[{"vendor":"nethack","product":"nethack"}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/security/advisories/GHSA-2c7p-3fj4-223m","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","x_transferred","Third Party Advisory","advisory","report"]},{"url":"https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/commits/612755bfb5c412079795c68ba392df5d93874ed8","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Patch","Third Party Advisory","fix","report"]},{"url":"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-5253","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-5253","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://nethack.org/security/CVE-2020-5253.html","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-5253","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://lists.opensuse.org/archives/list/security-announce@lists.opensuse.org/thread/ZXWYIIFE7GQMOSGULGWD55HZTUENYTOP/","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-5253","tags":["web"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2020-5253","title":"Privilege escalation in NetHack","description":"NetHack before version 3.6.0 allowed malicious use of escaping of characters in the configuration file (usually .nethackrc) which could be exploited. This bug is patched in NetHack 3.6.0.","status":"published","published":"2020-03-10T16:35:14Z","modified":"2024-08-04T08:22:09.098Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":3.9,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N","level":"low","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-184"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:35:47.56691Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2020-26463","description":"NetHack before version 3.6.0 allowed malicious use of escaping of characters in the configuration file (usually .nethackrc) which could be exploited. This bug is patched in NetHack 3.6.0.","status":"published","published":"2020-03-10T16:35:14Z","modified":"2024-08-04T08:22:09Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":3.9,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N","level":"low"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-03T03:08:07.28588Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2020-5253","description":"NetHack before version 3.6.0 allowed malicious use of escaping of characters in the configuration file (usually .nethackrc) which could be exploited. This bug is patched in NetHack 3.6.0.","status":"published","published":"2020-03-10T17:15:12.973Z","modified":"2026-06-17T03:21:08.27Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":3.9,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N","level":"low","assessor":"secondary"},{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical","assessor":"primary"},{"version":"2.0","score":7.5,"vector":"AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P","level":"high","assessor":"primary"}],"cwes":["CWE-184","CWE-269"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:05:55.32877Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2020-5253","description":"NetHack before version 3.6.0 allowed malicious use of escaping of characters in the configuration file (usually .nethackrc) which could be exploited. This bug is patched in NetHack 3.6.0.","status":"published","published":"2020-03-10T17:15:12.973Z","modified":"2026-10-20T13:59:41.787665159Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:44:16.936975Z"},{"id":"DEBIAN-CVE-2020-5253","description":"NetHack before version 3.6.0 allowed malicious use of escaping of characters in the configuration file (usually .nethackrc) which could be exploited. This bug is patched in NetHack 3.6.0.","status":"published","published":"2020-03-10T17:15:12.973Z","modified":"2026-10-26T12:02:05.511807785Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:45:34.019707Z"},{"id":"UBUNTU-CVE-2020-5253","description":"NetHack before version 3.6.0 allowed malicious use of escaping of characters in the configuration file (usually .nethackrc) which could be exploited. This bug is patched in NetHack 3.6.0.","status":"published","published":"2020-03-10T17:15:00Z","modified":"2025-10-24T04:48:17Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":3.9,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N","level":"low"},{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:54:25.179924Z"},{"id":"openSUSE-SU-2025:14898-1","title":"nethack-3.4.3-6.1 on GA media","description":"These are all security issues fixed in the nethack-3.4.3-6.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.","status":"published","published":"2025-03-16T00:00:00Z","modified":"2026-02-04T02:38:31.686571Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T16:58:37.399567Z"}]}}