CVE-2019-20433
CVE-2019-20433 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Gnu Aspell with a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.1. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-125.
Key facts
- Severity: Critical (CVSS 3.x base score 9.1)
- CVSS v2: 6.4
- EPSS exploit prediction: 2% (75th percentile)
- Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
- Weakness: CWE-125
- Affected product: Gnu Aspell
- Published:
- Last modified:
Description
libaspell.a in GNU Aspell before 0.60.8 has a buffer over-read for a string ending with a single '\0' byte, if the encoding is set to ucs-2 or ucs-4 outside of the application, as demonstrated by the ASPELL_CONF environment variable.
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2019-20433?
- libaspell.a in GNU Aspell before 0.60.8 has a buffer over-read for a string ending with a single '\0' byte, if the encoding is set to ucs-2 or ucs-4 outside of the application, as demonstrated by the ASPELL_CONF environment variable.
- How severe is CVE-2019-20433?
- CVE-2019-20433 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.1, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity none, and availability high.
- Is CVE-2019-20433 being actively exploited?
- It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (75th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
- What products are affected by CVE-2019-20433?
- CVE-2019-20433 affects Gnu Aspell. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
- How do I fix CVE-2019-20433?
- Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
- When was CVE-2019-20433 published?
- CVE-2019-20433 was published on 2020-01-27 and last updated on 2026-06-17.
References
Affected products (1)
- cpe:2.3:a:gnu:aspell:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
More vulnerabilities in Gnu Aspell
- CVE-2019-17544 — Critical (CVSS 9.1): libaspell.a in GNU Aspell before 0.60.8 has a stack-based buffer over-read in acommon::unescape in common/getdata.cpp…
- CVE-2019-25051 — High (CVSS 7.8): objstack in GNU Aspell 0.60.8 has a heap-based buffer overflow in acommon::ObjStack::dup_top (called from…
- CVE-2004-0548 — High (CVSS 7.2): Multiple stack-based buffer overflows in the word-list-compress functionality in compress.c for Aspell allow local…
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