LinuxOperating system · Redhat
CVE-2002-0506
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedBuffer overflow in newt.c of newt windowing library (libnewt) 0.50.33 and earlier may allow attackers to cause a denial of service or execute arbitrary code in setuid programs that use libnewt.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in newt.c of the newt windowing library (libnewt) versions 0.50.33 and earlier. The overflow occurs in setuid programs that link against libnewt, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges or denial of service.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
LinuxOperating system
= 6.2= 7.0= 7.1= 7.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if libnewt is installedRun 'rpm -qa | grep -i newt' on Red Hat systems, or check for /usr/lib/libnewt* or /lib/libnewt* filesAffected if libnewt is not found on the system - not affected. If found, continue to next steps.
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Determine installed libnewt versionRun 'rpm -q libnewt' or 'rpm -qi libnewt' to get the exact version numberAffected if Version is 0.50.33 or earlier - potentially affected. If version is later than 0.50.33, not affected by this CVE.
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Find all setuid programs on the systemRun 'find / -perm -4000 -type f 2>/dev/null' to list all binaries with the setuid bit setAffected if No setuid programs exist - not affected (the vulnerability only triggers in setuid programs). If setuid programs exist, continue to next step.
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Check if any setuid programs link against libnewtFor each setuid program found, run 'ldd /path/to/binary | grep newt' or 'readelf -d /path/to/binary | grep newt' to check for libnewt dependencyAffected if Any setuid program links to libnewt - AFFECTED. The buffer overflow can be triggered through that program with elevated privileges.
A system is affected if libnewt version 0.50.33 or earlier is installed AND at least one setuid program is linked against libnewt, enabling privilege escalation via the buffer overflow.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade libnewt to a version greater than 0.50.33, or remove setuid bit from programs that use libnewt if upgrade is not feasible. Review all setuid programs in the environment for libnewt dependency.
Fix this in Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2002-0506 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2002-0506 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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