CVE-2019-15546: Pancurses Format String Vulnerabilities Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-m57c-4vvx-gjgq
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-134
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2019-15546 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) format string vulnerabilities vulnerability (CWE-134: Use of Externally-Controlled Format String) affecting Pancurses libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves format string vulnerabilities in pancurses. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2019-15546 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2019-15546
GHSA Identifier GHSA-m57c-4vvx-gjgq
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-134: Use of Externally-Controlled Format String
Affected Product Pancurses
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2019-15546

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Pancurses dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

pancurses fixed: Latest secure release 
Upgrade pancurses to Latest secure release
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

inspect dependencies for pancurses

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2019-15546, inspect your project dependencies for Pancurses:

inspect dependencies for pancurses

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Pancurses in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-134: Use of Externally-Controlled Format String, where the product uses a function that accepts a format string as an argument, but the format string originates from an external source. In Pancurses, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

An issue was discovered in the pancurses crate through 0.16.1 for Rust. printw and mvprintw have format string vulnerabilities.

CVE-2019-15546 Affected Pancurses Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
pancurses
 crates.io
≤ 0.16.1

References

NVD — CVE-2019-15546 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-15546
Pancurses Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/RustSec/advisory-db/issues/106
Pancurses Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/ihalila/pancurses/issues/66
Pancurses Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/ihalila/pancurses
rustsec.org/advisories/rustsec-... WEB
https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2019-0005.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2019-15546?
CVE-2019-15546 is a security vulnerability in Pancurses involving Format string vulnerabilities in pancurses under CWE-134: Use of Externally-Controlled Format String.
Which Pancurses versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: pancurses.
What version fixes CVE-2019-15546?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is pancurses affected?
Yes, pancurses is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-15546?
CVE-2019-15546 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2019-15546?
CVE-2019-15546 is classified under CWE-134: Use of Externally-Controlled Format String (The product uses a function that accepts a format string as an argument, but the format string originates from an external source.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2019-15546?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for pancurses'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-m57c-4vvx-gjgq",
  "modified" : "2021-08-18T17:45:17Z",
  "published" : "2021-08-25T20:58:27Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2019-15546" ],
  "summary" : "Format string vulnerabilities in pancurses",
  "details" : "An issue was discovered in the pancurses crate through 0.16.1 for Rust. printw and mvprintw have format string vulnerabilities.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "pancurses"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "0.16.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-15546"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/RustSec/advisory-db/issues/106"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ihalila/pancurses/issues/66"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ihalila/pancurses"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2019-0005.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-134" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-08-18T17:45:17Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2019-08-26T18:15:00Z"
  }
}