LinuxOperating system · Gentoo
CVE-2004-0834
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 · uneditedFormat string vulnerability in Speedtouch USB driver before 1.3.1 allows local users to execute arbitrary code via (1) modem_run, (2) pppoa2, or (3) pppoa3.
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 confidenceFormat string vulnerability in Speedtouch USB driver versions prior to 1.3.1 allows local unprivileged users to execute arbitrary code via format string specifiers in input to the modem_run, pppoa2, or pppoa3 utilities, leading to potential local privilege escalation.
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
= 1.4= 8.2= 1.0= 1.1= 1.2= 1.2_beta1= 1.2_beta2= 1.2_beta3= 1.3= 8.2= 9.0= 9.1= 9.2= 10.0= 10.1= 2.1CVSS 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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Locate Speedtouch USB driver utilitiesSearch for the modem_run, pppoa2, and pppoa3 executable files on the system using 'which modem_run pppoa2 pppoa3' or 'find /usr -name "modem_run" -o -name "pppoa2" -o -name "pppoa3"'Affected if any of these three utilities exist on the system, indicating the Speedtouch USB driver is installed
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Identify driver version from packageQuery the installed package version using the system package manager: for RPM-based systems (Mandrake) use 'rpm -qa | grep -i speedtouch', for Gentoo use 'emerge -pvs speedtouch-usb' or check /var/db/pkg for the installed versionAffected if the reported version is 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.2_beta1, 1.2_beta2, 1.2_beta3, or 1.3 (versions prior to 1.3.1)
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Verify driver file version directlyIf package query fails, check the driver files themselves for version strings: 'modem_run --version' or 'strings /path/to/modem_run | grep -i version'Affected if the executable reports or contains version information indicating a version before 1.3.1
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Confirm utility accessibility by unprivileged usersCheck file permissions on the utilities: 'ls -la /usr/sbin/modem_run /usr/sbin/pppoa2 /usr/sbin/pppoa3' (or wherever located) to determine if local users can execute themAffected if the utilities are executable by non-root users or a group that includes unprivileged local users
The system is affected if the Speedtouch USB driver is installed with any of the vulnerable utilities (modem_run, pppoa2, pppoa3) present and the driver version is 1.3 or earlier (prior to 1.3.1), especially if these utilities are accessible to unprivileged local users.
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 the Speedtouch USB driver to version 1.3.1 or later to eliminate the format string vulnerability.
Fix this in Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2004-0834 — 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-2004-0834 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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