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IrssiApplication

CVE-2003-1020

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2004-01-05
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
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
The format_send_to_gui function in formats.c for irssi before 0.8.9 allows remote IRC users to cause a denial of service (crash).

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 confidence

The format_send_to_gui function in formats.c in irssi versions prior to 0.8.9 contains a vulnerability that allows remote IRC users to crash the irssi client, causing a denial of service. The exact exploitation mechanism is not detailed in available sources, but the vulnerability is triggered through maliciously crafted messages sent to the IRC client.

MitigationUpgrade irssi to version 0.8.9 or later to obtain the patch for this vulnerability. As this is a client-side vulnerability, users should also exercise caution when connecting to untrusted IRC networks.

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
IrssiApplication
Affected:= 0.8.4= 0.8.5= 0.8.6= 0.8.7= 0.8.8
Mandrake LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 9.1= 9.2

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
None
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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. Verify irssi is installed
    Run 'which irssi' on the command line or check your system's package manager for the irssi package
    Affected if irssi is not found on the system, then this CVE does not apply
  2. Determine installed irssi version
    Run 'irssi --version' or use your package manager (e.g., 'rpm -q irssi' for RPM-based systems, 'dpkg -l irssi' for Debian-based systems) to retrieve the exact version number
    Affected if the version returned is 0.8.4, 0.8.5, 0.8.6, 0.8.7, or 0.8.8 - these are the vulnerable versions
  3. Confirm version is within affected range
    Compare your installed version against the known affected range: 0.8.4 through 0.8.8 inclusive
    Affected if the installed version falls within 0.8.4-0.8.8, the client is vulnerable to the format_send_to_gui crash

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 irssi to version 0.8.9 or later to obtain the patch for this vulnerability. As this is a client-side vulnerability, users should also exercise caution when connecting to untrusted IRC networks.

Fix this in Irssi Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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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-2003-1020 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data