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NcursesApplication · Invisible Island

CVE-2017-10685

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-06-29
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
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
In ncurses 6.0, there is a format string vulnerability in the fmt_entry function. A crafted input will lead to a remote arbitrary code execution attack.

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 format string vulnerability exists in the fmt_entry function of ncurses 6.0. When user-controlled input is passed as a format string to functions like printf/snprintf without proper sanitization, an attacker can read from or write to arbitrary memory locations on the stack, potentially achieving remote code execution.

MitigationUpgrade to ncurses 6.1 or later which contains the patch for this vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, implement input validation to ensure no format specifiers are present in user-supplied data before passing it to fmt_entry.

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
NcursesApplication
Affected:= 6.0

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:3.0/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. Identify installed ncurses version
    Run 'ncursesw6-config --version' or check package manager (dpkg -l libncursesw6, rpm -qa | grep ncurses, brew info ncurses)
    Affected if Version returned is exactly 6.0
  2. Locate ncurses library files
    Find libncurses.so.6 or libncursesw6.so.6 in /usr/lib, /lib, or library search paths using 'find /usr/lib -name "libncurses*" -ls'
    Affected if Library version symlink or file shows 6.0
  3. Determine if application uses fmt_entry with external input
    Review application source code that links against ncurses 6.0 and calls fmt_entry function with data from user input, network sources, or files
    Affected if Code passes unsanitized user-controlled strings directly to format string functions within fmt_entry context
  4. Check for format string usage patterns
    Search source code for printf/fprintf/sprintf/snprintf calls where the format string includes user-supplied variables (e.g., printf(user_input) instead of printf("%s", user_input))
    Affected if Pattern found where fmt_entry or related functions receive format string arguments derived from external input

Affected if ncurses version 6.0 is installed AND user-controlled input reaches fmt_entry function without proper format string sanitization.

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

Upgrade to ncurses 6.1 or later which contains the patch for this vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, implement input validation to ensure no format specifiers are present in user-supplied data before passing it to fmt_entry.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

ncurses 6.1 or later

  1. 1. Identify all systems running ncurses version 6.0
  2. 2. Update the system's package manager repository metadata
  3. 3. Upgrade ncurses package using the system's package manager (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get install libncurses6, yum update ncurses, or dnf update ncurses)
  4. 4. Verify the installed ncurses version is 6.1 or later using: ncurses --version or pkg-config --modversion ncurses
  5. 5. Restart any services or applications that link against ncurses to ensure the updated library is loaded
  6. 6. Test application functionality to confirm the update did not break existing functionality
Caveat Minor: Some very old applications compiled against ncurses ABI 5 may experience compatibility issues; recompile applications if needed

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

Fix this in Ncurses Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,600
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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-2017-10685 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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