dbcve.org
C ClientApplication · University Of Washington

CVE-2003-0297

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2003-06-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
c-client IMAP Client, as used in imap-2002b and Pine 4.53, allows remote malicious IMAP servers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via certain large (1) literal and (2) mailbox size values that cause either integer signedness errors or integer overflow errors.

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

The c-client IMAP library (imap-2002b and Pine 4.53) contains integer signedness and overflow errors when processing large literal and mailbox size values received from remote IMAP servers. A malicious server can exploit this to crash the client (denial of service) or potentially execute arbitrary code on the client system.

MitigationUpgrade to patched versions of the c-client library and Pine email client; avoid connecting to untrusted or unknown IMAP servers.

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
C ClientApplication
Affected:all versions
Imap 2002bApplication
Affected:all versions
PineApplication
Affected:= 4.53

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
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/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 installed c-client IMAP library
    Search for files named 'c-client.a', 'c-client.so', 'imap.a', 'libc-client.a', or 'libc-client.so' in standard library directories such as /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib, or /lib. On Linux, you can also use 'ldconfig -p | grep -i c-client' or 'find /usr -name "*c-client*" 2>/dev/null'.
    Affected if The library is present and appears to be an unpatched version of the University of Washington c-client or imap-2002b.
  2. Determine c-client library version
    If the library file is found, check its metadata or associated documentation. You may also check the source directory if built from source, or query the package manager (e.g., 'rpm -qa | grep -i imap' or 'dpkg -l | grep -i imap' on Linux). Compare the version to the affected ranges (imap-2002b all versions, or unspecified versions prior to patches).
    Affected if The installed version is imap-2002b or an unspecified earlier version of the University of Washington c-client library.
  3. Identify installed Pine email client
    Check for the Pine client binary by running 'which pine' or 'which pico', or search for pine-related files using 'find /usr -name "pine*" 2>/dev/null'. Query the package manager if available (e.g., 'rpm -qa | grep -i pine').
    Affected if Pine version 4.53 is installed.
  4. Check Pine version number
    Run 'pine -v' or 'pine -version' to obtain the exact version number. If the command is not available, check any installed package metadata that shows the Pine version.
    Affected if The Pine version is exactly 4.53.
  5. Verify IMAP client functionality in use
    Determine if any application on the system is configured to use the c-client library as an IMAP client. This includes Pine, Alpine, or any custom software linking against the c-client library. Check running processes or application configurations for IMAP server connections.
    Affected if The system runs any application using the vulnerable c-client library to connect to remote IMAP servers.

A system is affected if it runs the University of Washington c-client library (any imap-2002b version) or Pine version 4.53 as an IMAP client connecting to remote servers, as the vulnerability is triggered when processing large literal or mailbox size values from a malicious server.

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 patched versions of the c-client library and Pine email client; avoid connecting to untrusted or unknown IMAP servers.

Fix this in C Client Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2003-0297 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2003-0297 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data