CVE-2006-0178
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 /bin/ftp in UNICOS 9.0.2.2 allows local users to have an unknown impact via format string specifiers in the quote command. NOTE: because the program is not setuid and not normally called from remote programs, there may not be a typical attack vector for the issue that crosses privilege boundaries. Therefore this may not be a vulnerability.
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 confidenceFormat string vulnerability in the /bin/ftp binary on UNICOS 9.0.2.2 allows local users to inject format string specifiers through the quote command, potentially allowing memory read/write via format functions. The vulnerability requires local access and the binary is not setuid, limiting the practical exploitability for 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= 9.0.2.2CVSS 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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Identify the operating system versionRun the command to display the UNICOS version and revision (commonly 'uname -a' or 'vers' depending on UNICOS release)Affected if The system is running Cray UNICOS version 9.0.2.2 exactly
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Locate the ftp binaryVerify the presence of /bin/ftp using 'ls -la /bin/ftp' or equivalent file system queryAffected if The /bin/ftp binary exists on the system
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Check ftp binary permissionsRun 'ls -la /bin/ftp' to inspect file permissions, specifically looking for the setuid bitAffected if The binary has setuid permissions (the vulnerability is more severe if setuid, but even without it local users can exploit the format string flaw)
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Test quote command behavior (optional for confirmation)Access the ftp client locally and use the 'quote' command with arbitrary input to observe how the application handles the argumentAffected if The ftp client processes format string specifiers through the quote command without sanitization
A system is affected if it runs Cray UNICOS version 9.0.2.2 and contains the /bin/ftp binary with the vulnerable quote command handler.
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 dataSince the ftp binary is not setuid and requires local access, primary mitigation is restricting local shell access. If a fix is required, the ftp client source code would need modification to sanitize input passed to format functions in the quote command handler.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2006-0178 — 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-2006-0178 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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