Buffer overflow in Nethack

CVE-2019-19905

NetHack 3.6.x before 3.6.4 is prone to a buffer overflow vulnerability when reading very long lines from configuration files. This affects systems that have NetHack installed suid/sgid, and shared systems that allow users to upload their own configuration files.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

EPSS: 0.034 (87.6th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-19905?
CVE-2019-19905 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Nethack, classified under Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input (Classic Buffer Overflow). CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2019-12-19.
How severe is CVE-2019-19905?
Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2019-19905 known to be exploited?
6 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.