Description
The DEC UDK processing feature in the xterm terminal emulator in XFree86 4.2.99.4 and earlier allows attackers to cause a denial of service via a certain character escape sequence that causes the terminal to enter a tight loop.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 3.0 | xfree86 | 4.1.0-16woody1 | DSA-380 |
Advisories 1
- DSA-380 xfree86 - buffer overflows, denial of service Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
References
- DSA-380 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2003:067 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2003:066 vendor-advisory
- terminal-emulator-dec-udk(11415) vdb-entry
- 20030224 Terminal Emulator Security Issues mailing-list
- RHSA-2003:064 vendor-advisory
- 6950 vdb-entry
- RHSA-2003:065 vendor-advisory
- 20030224 Terminal Emulator Security Issues mailing-list