Description
man before 1.5l allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via a malformed man file with improper quotes, which causes the my_xsprintf function to return a string with the value "unsafe," which is then executed as a program via a system call if it is in the search path of the user who runs man.
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.
Exploit-DB 1
- Man Program 1.5 - Unsafe Return Value Command Execution EDB-22344 · local · Mar 11, 2003 · verified
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
References
- 20030311 Vulnerability in man < 1.5l mailing-list
- man-myxsprintf-code-execution(11512) vdb-entry
- CLSA-2003:620 vendor-advisory
- 7066 vdb-entry
- RHSA-2003:134 vendor-advisory
- GLSA-200303-13 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2003:133 vendor-advisory