Netkit Telnet
CVE-2020-10188
CRITICAL
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Buffer copy size validation
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Execution The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could overflow a buffer to corrupt adjacent memory by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
utility.c in telnetd in netkit telnet through 0.17 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via short writes or urgent data, because of a buffer overflow involving the netclear and nextitem. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Buffer Copy without Size Check vulnerability could allow attackers to overflow a buffer to corrupt adjacent memory.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Always validate buffer sizes before copy operations. Use bounded functions (strncpy, snprintf). Enable compiler protections.
Affects your stack
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Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified as Buffer Copy without Size Check (CWE-120), which allows attackers to overflow a buffer to corrupt adjacent memory. utility.c in telnetd in netkit telnet through 0.17 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via short writes or urgent data, because of a buffer overflow involving the netclear and nextitem functions. Affected products include: Netkit Telnet Project Netkit Telnet, Fedoraproject Fedora, Debian Debian Linux, Arista Eos, Oracle Communications Performance Intelligence Center. Version information: through 0.17.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
utility.c in telnetd in netkit telnet through 0.17 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via short writes or urgent data, because of a buffer overflow involving the netclear and nextitem functions.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
GitHub
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.
Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.
Exploit-DB