Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2017-11112 is a denial-of-service issue reported in ncurses 6.0. If software processes untrusted terminfo data, malformed input could trigger an invalid memory access and crash affected processing. The supplied sources do not show code execution, confirmed active exploitation, or a complete affected-product matrix.
Executive priority
Treat this as a targeted availability risk rather than a broad emergency. Prioritize externally reachable or multi-user services that may parse untrusted terminfo data, then handle routine vendor patching elsewhere.
Technical view
The issue is an attempted 0xffffffffffffffff access in append_acs within tinfo/parse_entry.c. The described impact is remote denial of service when terminfo library code processes untrusted terminfo data. No CVSS, CWE, CPE, or detailed patch information is included in the supplied bundle.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where ncurses terminfo parsing is reachable through untrusted terminfo data. General systems with ncurses installed may not be meaningfully exposed unless an application accepts or loads attacker-controlled terminfo definitions.
Exploitation context
The bundle says KEV is false and provides no cited evidence of active exploitation. The supported risk is denial of service, conditional on untrusted terminfo data reaching the vulnerable parser. Evidence is insufficient to claim broader exploitation or code execution.
Researcher notes
The public bundle is sparse: no CVSS vector, CWE, CPE list, or explicit upstream fix details are provided. Analysis should focus on reachability of terminfo parsing from untrusted data and vendor backport status for ncurses.
Mitigation direction
- Check your operating system or distribution advisory for ncurses fixes or backports.
- Apply vendor-provided ncurses updates where CVE-2017-11112 is listed as fixed.
- Restrict applications from loading terminfo data from untrusted users or remote sources.
- Review Gentoo and Red Hat guidance for environment-specific remediation details.
Validation and detection
- Inventory systems and containers using ncurses or terminfo library functionality.
- Confirm installed ncurses packages include vendor fixes or backports for CVE-2017-11112.
- Identify applications that process user-supplied or remotely supplied terminfo data.
- Validate that untrusted terminfo input is blocked, sanitized, or isolated.
- Run regression tests for terminal and terminfo-dependent functionality after updates.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2017-11112 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- GLSA-201804-13CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_GENTOO
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1464686CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.