VDB-225898 · CVE-2023-29491 · Nessus 241454

ncurses 6.0/6.1/6.1-20191012/6.1.20180414 Environment Variable $HOME/.terminfo TERMINFO/TERM memory corruption

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.4	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as critical has been discovered in ncurses. This affects an unknown part of the file $HOME/.terminfo of the component Environment Variable Handler. Executing a manipulation of the argument TERMINFO/TERM can lead to memory corruption. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2023-29491. The attack requires local access. There is no available exploit. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in ncurses. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects an unknown functionality of the file $HOME/.terminfo of the component Environment Variable Handler. The manipulation of the argument TERMINFO/TERM with an unknown input leads to a memory corruption vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is 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. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

ncurses before 6.4 20230408, when used by a setuid application, allows local users to trigger security-relevant memory corruption via malformed data in a terminfo database file that is found in $HOME/.terminfo or reached via the TERMINFO or TERM environment variable.

The weakness was presented 04/14/2023. The advisory is available at ncurses.scripts.mit.edu. This vulnerability was named CVE-2023-29491 since 04/07/2023. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 241454 (CentOS 9 : ncurses-6.2-12.20210508.el9), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.4 20230408 eliminates this vulnerability. A possible mitigation has been published even before and not after the disclosure of the vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (241454). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Productinfo

Name

ncurses

Version

License

open-source

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.4

VulDB Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.1
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 7.8
NVD Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
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💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
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Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

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

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Nessus ID: 241454
Nessus Name: CentOS 9 : ncurses-6.2-12.20210508.el9

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: ncurses 6.4 20230408
Patch: eb51b1ea1f75a0ec17c9c5937cb28df1e8eeec56

Timelineinfo

04/07/2023 🔍
04/08/2023 +1 days 🔍
04/14/2023 +6 days 🔍
04/14/2023 +0 days 🔍
11/06/2025 +936 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Advisory: ncurses.scripts.mit.edu
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2023-29491 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2023-29491
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-225898

Entryinfo

Created: 04/14/2023 08:00
Updated: 11/06/2025 00:19
Changes: 04/14/2023 08:00 (41), 04/30/2023 14:45 (2), 07/08/2025 07:23 (18), 11/06/2025 00:19 (11)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.