CVE-2005-2549
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 · uneditedMultiple format string vulnerabilities in Evolution 1.5 through 2.3.6.1 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via (1) full vCard data, (2) contact data from remote LDAP servers, or (3) task list data from remote servers.
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 confidenceMultiple format string vulnerabilities in Evolution versions 1.5 through 2.3.6.1 allow remote attackers to crash the application or potentially execute arbitrary code by supplying malicious format specifiers in (1) vCard contact data, (2) contact data from remote LDAP servers, or (3) remote task list data. The vulnerability stems from unsanitized user input being passed directly to format functions.
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= 1.5= 2.0= 2.1= 2.2= 2.3.1= 2.3.2= 2.3.3= 2.3.4= 2.3.5= 2.3.6.1CVSS 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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Evolution versionRun 'evolution --version' or query your package manager (e.g., 'rpm -q evolution' or 'dpkg -l evolution') to obtain the exact version numberAffected if The installed version matches any of these: 1.5, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3.1, 2.3.2, 2.3.3, 2.3.4, 2.3.5, or 2.3.6.1
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Determine if vCard contact import is accessibleCheck if Evolution's contact import feature is available by examining the application or by reviewing configured address books that accept vCard inputAffected if Users can import vCard files from external or untrusted sources into Evolution contacts
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Check for configured LDAP directory connectionsReview Evolution's configured data sources by examining configuration files in the user home directory (such as ~/.evolution/ or via Evolution's account settings) for LDAP server entriesAffected if Evolution is configured to connect to remote LDAP servers for contact lookup
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Identify remote task list configurationsExamine Evolution's task/calendar configuration for any remote task list sources (such as GroupDAV, remote CalDAV, or similar network-based task synchronization)Affected if Evolution has remote task list sources configured that accept data from network sources
A user is affected if their installed Evolution version is 1.5 through 2.3.6.1 AND they have vCard import, LDAP connections, or remote task lists enabled or accessible.
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 Evolution to a version beyond 2.3.6.1, or apply vendor patches. Until patched, avoid importing vCards from untrusted sources and disable or restrict remote LDAP connections.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-2549 — 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-2005-2549 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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