Vulnary
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Critical· 9.8

CVE-2017-10685

A critical flaw in ncurses 6.0 lets attackers run arbitrary code by sending specially crafted input. The bug is a format string error in the fmt_entry function. It could allow a remote attacker to take full control of the affected system.

publishedJun 29, 2017
last modifiedJul 23, 2026
sourcesNVD
severity · cvss
9.8
critical · how bad it is
exploitation · epss
4%
90th percentile · chance of exploitation in 30 days
(ai-assisted) A model wrote this summary from the official data, so double-check it against the source before you act on it. Read the official advisory →
auto-deletes from the system
counting…on Sep 6, 2026

No official fix yet. If none appears within 45 days of first tracking, this entry is removed automatically.

01

Who is affected

Systems running invisible-island ncurses 6.0 are affected.

02

Real-world impact

An attacker could execute arbitrary code on the system, potentially taking full control.

03

Why this severity

The CVSS score of 9.8 reflects that the vulnerability is exploitable remotely with no authentication or user interaction, and it can compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

04

What to do about it

no official fix yet

No official fix or mitigation is documented in the sources yet. Monitor the vendor advisory and apply the patch as soon as it is released.

No fix documented in sources

05

Timeline

  1. Jun 29, 2017 · Jun 29, 2017
    Published
    Disclosed and added to the National Vulnerability Database.
  2. Jul 23, 2026 · 14d ago
    Advisory updated
    The NVD record was last revised.
06

How it’s attacked

Attack vectorNetwork (remote)
Attack complexityLow
Privileges requiredNone
User interactionNone needed
ScopeUnchanged
Confidentiality impactHigh
Integrity impactHigh
Availability impactHigh
07

References & advisories

(ai-assisted) A model wrote this summary from the official data, so double-check it against the source before you act on it. Read the official advisory →