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Freefloat Ftp ServerApplication · Freefloat

CVE-2012-10023

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-05
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit 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
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in FreeFloat FTP Server version 1.0.0. The server fails to properly validate input passed to the USER command, allowing remote attackers to overwrite memory and potentially execute arbitrary code. The flaw is triggered by sending an overly long username string, which overflows the buffer allocated for user authentication.

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 confidence

A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in FreeFloat FTP Server v1.0.0 where the USER command fails to properly validate input length before copying the username string into a fixed-size buffer on the stack. By sending an overly long username string, an attacker can overflow the buffer, overwrite adjacent memory, and potentially execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the FTP service.

MitigationImplement strict input length validation on the USER command to ensure username data does not exceed the allocated buffer size before copying. Consider upgrading to a supported FTP server or implementing additional exploit mitigations such as stack canaries if patching the vulnerable software is not feasible.

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
Freefloat Ftp ServerApplication
Affected:= 1.0

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 FreeFloat FTP Server is installed
    Check for the presence of FreeFloat FTP Server executable (ftpserver.exe) in typical installation directories such as C:\Program Files\FreeFloat or C:\Program Files (x86)\FreeFloat, or search the filesystem for the executable.
    Affected if If the FreeFloat FTP Server executable exists on the system, proceed to version check.
  2. Confirm installed version is 1.0
    Right-click the ftpserver.exe file, select Properties, and examine the Version tab for the product version. Alternatively, right-click the FreeFloat FTP Server entry in Windows Start Menu and select Properties to view the version information.
    Affected if If the version is listed as 1.0.0 or 1.0, the installed version matches the vulnerable release.
  3. Verify FTP service is running
    Open Windows Services (services.msc), locate the FreeFloat FTP Server service, and check its Status column. Or run 'netstat -an | findstr :21' from command prompt to verify the FTP server is listening on port 21.
    Affected if If the service Status shows 'Running' or port 21 is listening, the vulnerable software is active and reachable.
  4. Test USER command processing
    Connect to the FTP server using any FTP client (e.g., Windows command prompt: 'ftp <server_ip>') or telnet to port 21. When prompted for username, send an excessively long string (e.g., 200+ characters) using the USER command to observe if the server crashes or behaves unexpectedly.
    Affected if If the server accepts the long input without crashing or error, the buffer overflow vulnerability is present and exploitable.

A system is affected if FreeFloat FTP Server version 1.0 is installed and running, exposing the unpatched USER command buffer overflow to network attackers.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement strict input length validation on the USER command to ensure username data does not exceed the allocated buffer size before copying. Consider upgrading to a supported FTP server or implementing additional exploit mitigations such as stack canaries if patching the vulnerable software is not feasible.

Recommended fix High confidence
  1. 1. Discontinue use of Freefloat FTP Server version 1.0 as it is unmaintained and no security patches are available.
  2. 2. Identify a currently supported FTP server solution (such as FileZilla Server, ProFTPD, or vsftpd) that receives regular security updates.
  3. 3. Install the replacement FTP server on a new system or migrate existing configurations to the new server.
  4. 4. Update firewall rules and access controls to point to the new FTP server.
  5. 5. If immediate mitigation is required while planning migration, restrict network access to the FTP server to trusted IP addresses only using firewall rules.
Caveat Migration to a different FTP server will require reconfiguration and testing of client connections

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Freefloat Ftp Server Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,870
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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-2012-10023 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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