VulnerabilityPublished 18 Apr 2022Updated 9 Jun 2025

CVE-2022-29458: ncurses · Out-of-bounds Read

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.1 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 13:47 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.1High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 1.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 70% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 18 Apr 2022
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Debiandebian/ncurses`pkg:deb/debian/ncurses`Other threats	Affected =6.3	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2022-29458 effectively, European organizations should: 1) Immediately apply the official patch released for ncurses version 6.3 dated April 16, 2022, or upgrade to a later secure version. 2) Conduct an inventory of all systems running ncurses 6.3 or earlier, including embedded devices and containers, to ensure comprehensive coverage. 3) Restrict local user access to only trusted personnel and enforce strict user account controls to minimize the risk of exploitation requiring local access and user interaction. 4) Implement monitoring and alerting for unusual application crashes or segmentation faults related to terminal-based applications, which may indicate exploitation attempts. 5) Employ memory protection mechanisms such as Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) and stack canaries to reduce the likelihood of successful exploitation. 6) For environments where patching is delayed, consider applying application-level mitigations such as limiting the use of vulnerable terminal functions or isolating critical systems from untrusted users. 7) Educate users about the risks of interacting with untrusted terminal inputs or scripts that might trigger the vulnerability. 8) Regularly review and update incident response plans to include scenarios involving local privilege escalation or denial of service via terminal library vulnerabilities.

Description

ncurses 6.3 before patch 20220416 has an out-of-bounds read and segmentation violation in convert_strings in tinfo/read_entry.c in the terminfo library.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2022-29458 can be significant, especially for those relying on Linux or Unix-based systems in their IT infrastructure. Since ncurses is a core library used by numerous command-line tools and applications, exploitation could lead to denial of service conditions, causing critical services or administrative tools to crash unexpectedly. This can disrupt operations, particularly in environments where terminal-based management or automation scripts are prevalent. The confidentiality impact is also notable; an out-of-bounds read could allow attackers to access sensitive information residing in memory, which may include credentials or other confidential data. This risk is heightened in multi-user systems or shared hosting environments common in European data centers. Although the attack requires local access and user interaction, insider threats or compromised user accounts could exploit this vulnerability. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but the high CVSS score and potential for denial of service and data leakage mean organizations should prioritize remediation. Additionally, sectors with stringent compliance requirements such as finance, healthcare, and government in Europe must consider the confidentiality implications seriously to avoid regulatory penalties.

CWE-125Out-of-bounds Read (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessCWE Top 25 (2025): #8
The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Use a language that provides appropriate memory abstractions.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Overread Buffers (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 10 Jul 2025, 19:17 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-125

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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