UnrealircdApplication · Unreal

CVE-2002-1675

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v2.0 Published 2002-12-31
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Format string vulnerability in the Cio_PrintF function of cio_main.c in Unreal IRCd 3.1.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via format string specifiers.

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 · high confidence

Unreal IRCd 3.1.1 contains a format string vulnerability in the Cio_PrintF function of cio_main.c. The vulnerability occurs when user-controlled input is passed directly to a format function (e.g., printf) without proper sanitization, allowing attackers to inject format specifiers (%s, %n, etc.) to read from or write to stack memory, potentially leading to crash or arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of Unreal IRCd that addresses this vulnerability, or apply a code fix to use proper format string arguments (e.g., printf("%s", user_input) instead of printf(user_input)).

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
UnrealircdApplication
Affected:= 3.1.1

CVSS 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Unreal IRCd installation and version
    Run command to check installed Unreal IRCd version, such as: unrealircd -v, ./unreal -v, or check package manager listing (dpkg -l, rpm -qa)
    Affected if Displayed version is exactly 3.1.1
  2. Locate the Unreal IRCd binary or source
    Find the running Unreal IRCd process or executable using: ps aux | grep ircd, which unrealircd, or locate the installation directory
    Affected if The binary or source files exist and version verification shows 3.1.1
  3. Check if the vulnerable function exists
    Examine the cio_main.c source file or compiled binary for the Cio_PrintF function using: grep -r Cio_PrintF in source, or strings binary | grep Cio_PrintF
    Affected if The Cio_PrintF function is present in the binary/source and version is 3.1.1
  4. Verify service is running
    Check if Unreal IRCd daemon is active using: ps aux | grep -i unreal, netstat -tlpn | grep ircd, or systemctl status unrealircd
    Affected if The service is running and version is confirmed as 3.1.1

The system is affected if Unreal IRCd version 3.1.1 is installed and running, as this exact version contains the format string vulnerability in Cio_PrintF.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of Unreal IRCd that addresses this vulnerability, or apply a code fix to use proper format string arguments (e.g., printf("%s", user_input) instead of printf(user_input)).

Fix this in Unrealircd Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2002-1675 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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