CVE-2005-1618
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 · uneditedThe YMSGR URL handler in Yahoo! Messenger 5.x through 6.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (disconnect) via a room login or a room join request packet with a third : (colon) and an & (ampersand), which causes Messenger to send a corrupted packet to the server, which triggers a disconnect from the server.
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 confidenceYahoo! Messenger versions 5.x through 6.0 contain a vulnerability in the YMSGR URL handler where specially crafted room login or room join request packets containing a third colon (:) and an ampersand (&) cause the client to send a malformed packet to the server, triggering an automatic server-side disconnect.
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= 5.5= 5.6= 6.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Determine if Yahoo Messenger is installedSearch for Yahoo Messenger executables in typical installation directories (Program Files\Yahoo!\, Program Files (x86)\Yahoo!\) or review installed programs via Windows Add or Remove ProgramsAffected if Yahoo Messenger executable files are present on the system
-
Identify the installed Yahoo Messenger versionRight-click the Yahoo Messenger executable, select Properties, and view the Version information tab, or check the version listed in Add or Remove ProgramsAffected if The installed version is 5.5, 5.6, or 6.0
-
Verify the YMSGR URL handler is registeredCheck Windows Registry under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\YMSGR for protocol handler entries, or observe if clicking ymsgr: links opens Yahoo MessengerAffected if The YMSGR URL protocol handler is registered and functional
A system is affected if Yahoo Messenger version 5.5, 5.6, or 6.0 is installed and the YMSGR URL handler is active, as the vulnerability triggers when specially crafted room login or join request packets with a third colon and ampersand are processed.
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 dataThis is a legacy client-side vulnerability in discontinued Yahoo! Messenger software. Organizations should ensure affected versions are not in use and consider migrating to supported enterprise communication platforms. No server-side remediation is possible.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 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 $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-1618 — 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-2005-1618 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
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.
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.
- 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