University of Washington wu-ftpd 2.5.0/2.6.0/2.6.1 glob CWD memory corruption

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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6.6$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in University of Washington wu-ftpd 2.5.0/2.6.0/2.6.1. The affected element is the function glob. The manipulation of the argument CWD with the input ~{ leads to memory corruption. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2001-0550. Furthermore, there is an exploit available. Due to its background and reception, this vulnerability has an historic impact. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in University of Washington wu-ftpd 2.5.0/2.6.0/2.6.1 (File Transfer Software). It has been rated as critical. This issue affects the function glob. The manipulation of the argument CWD with the input value ~{ leads to a memory corruption vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-119. The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it can read from or write to a memory location that is outside of the intended boundary of the buffer. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

wu-ftpd 2.6.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a "~{" argument to commands such as CWD, which is not properly handled by the glob function (ftpglob).

The bug was discovered 11/01/2001. The weakness was shared 11/28/2001 by Matt Power, Luciano Notarfrancesco and Juan Pablo Martinez Kuhn (FIRST) with CORE Security Technologies as confirmed advisory (CERT.org). It is possible to read the advisory at kb.cert.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2001-0550. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Technical details as well as a public exploit are known. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/05/2025). Due to its background and reception, this vulnerability has a historic impact.

After immediately, there has been an exploit disclosed. The exploit is available at immunitysec.com. It is declared as proof-of-concept. The vulnerability was handled as a non-public zero-day exploit for at least 27 days. During that time the estimated underground price was around $0-$5k. The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 14924 (Debian DSA-087-1 : wu-ftpd - remote root exploit), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family Debian Local Security Checks and running in the context l. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 27126 (WU-FTPd File Globbing Heap Corruption Vulnerability).

Upgrading eliminates this vulnerability. A possible mitigation has been published 5 days after the disclosure of the vulnerability. Attack attempts may be identified with Snort ID 1377. Furthermore it is possible to detect and prevent this kind of attack with TippingPoint and the filter 650.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (7611), Exploit-DB (348), Tenable (14924), SecurityFocus (BID 3581†) and OSVDB (686†). The entries VDB-82, VDB-332, VDB-333 and VDB-427 are related to this item. Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.6

VulDB Base Score: 7.3
VulDB Temp Score: 6.6
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
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Exploitinginfo

Class: Memory corruption
CWE: CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Access: Public
Status: Proof-of-Concept
Download: 🔍

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Nessus ID: 14924
Nessus Name: Debian DSA-087-1 : wu-ftpd - remote root exploit
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍
Nessus Context: 🔍
Nessus Port: 🔍

OpenVAS ID: 53827
OpenVAS Name: Debian Security Advisory DSA 087-1 (wu-ftpd)
OpenVAS File: 🔍
OpenVAS Family: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Exploit-DB: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

Reaction Time: 🔍
0-Day Time: 🔍
Exposure Time: 🔍
Exploit Delay Time: 🔍
Snort ID: 1377
Snort Message: PROTOCOL-FTP wu-ftp bad file completion attempt
Snort Class: 🔍

Suricata ID: 2101377
Suricata Class: 🔍
Suricata Message: 🔍

TippingPoint: 🔍

McAfee IPS: 🔍
McAfee IPS Version: 🔍

SourceFire IPS: 🔍
PaloAlto IPS: 🔍

Timelineinfo

11/01/2001 🔍
11/27/2001 +26 days 🔍
11/28/2001 +1 days 🔍
11/28/2001 +0 days 🔍
11/28/2001 +0 days 🔍
11/30/2001 +2 days 🔍
12/03/2001 +3 days 🔍
09/12/2002 +283 days 🔍
12/11/2002 +89 days 🔍
09/29/2004 +658 days 🔍
07/10/2014 +3571 days 🔍
10/05/2025 +4105 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: washington.edu

Advisory: kb.cert.org
Researcher: Matt Power, Luciano Notarfrancesco, Juan Pablo Martinez Kuhn (FIRST)
Organization: CORE Security Technologies
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2001-0550 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2001-0550
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-17639
CERT: 🔍
X-Force: 7611
SecurityFocus: 3581 - Wu-Ftpd File Globbing Heap Corruption Vulnerability
OSVDB: 686 - WU-FTPD ftpglob Function Error Handling Arbitrary Code Execution
Vulnerability Center: 336 - Wu-Ftpd File Globbing Heap Corruption Vulnerability, High

scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20161013
See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 07/10/2014 16:39
Updated: 10/05/2025 19:40
Changes: 07/10/2014 16:39 (97), 05/06/2019 10:49 (5), 11/30/2024 19:24 (16), 12/26/2024 05:40 (1), 10/05/2025 19:40 (2)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216:C6B:103

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

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