Description
Buffer overflow in the Quake 3 Engine, as used by (1) ET 2.60, (2) Return to Castle Wolfenstein 1.41, and (3) Quake III Arena 1.32b allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a long remapShader command.
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 14 | ioquake3 | 1.36+svn1788j-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | ioquake3 | 1.36+svn1788j-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | ioquake3 | 1.36+svn1788j-1 | — |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | ioquake3 | 1.36+git.20210720-1.2 | openSUSE-SU-2024:10863-1 |
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
- Quake 3 Engine 1.32b - 'R_RemapShader()' Remote Client Buffer Overflow EDB-1750 · remote · May 5, 2006 · verified
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Advisories 1
- openSUSE-SU-2024:10863-1 ioquake3-1.36+git.20210720-1.2 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
References
- 20060508 Two independent vulnerabilities (client and server side) in Quake3 engine and many derived games mailing-list
- 19984 third-party-advisory
- ADV-2006-1676 vdb-entry
- 17857 vdb-entry
- GLSA-200605-12 vendor-advisory
- 20065 third-party-advisory
- quake3-remapshader-client-bo(26264) vdb-entry
- 1750 exploit
- 25279 vdb-entry