CVE-2004-2264

View on CVE.org

Published Jul 19, 2005 CVSS 2.0 · 6.4 Medium EPSS 2.0% KEV · Not listed

Description

Format string bug in the open_altfile function in filename.c for GNU less 382, 381, and 358 might allow local users to cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code via format strings in the LESSOPEN environment variable. NOTE: since less is not setuid or setgid, then this is not a vulnerability unless there are plausible scenarios under which privilege boundaries could be crossed

Affected Products

Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).

Vendor Product Default status Versions

n/a

n/a

affected

Version	Status	Constraints
`n/a`	affected	—

Configuration 1 [-]

OR	cpe:2.3:a:gnu:less:358:::::::*
	cpe:2.3:a:gnu:less:381:::::::*
	cpe:2.3:a:gnu:less:382:::::::*

No data.

No data available yet.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

Sign in to view the affected projects.

Advisories

No advisories available

Metrics

No CVSS v4.0

No CVSS v3.1

No CVSS v3.0

Access Vector Network

Access Complexity Low

Authentication None

Confidentiality Impact None

Integrity Impact Partial

Availability Impact Partial

This CVE is not in the KEV list.

Exploit prediction score: 2.0% (2.031% probability within 30 days)

Key SSVC decision points have not yet been added.

References

Link	Providers
http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2004-08/0794.html
http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2004-08/0811.html
http://securitytracker.com/id?1010988
http://www.osvdb.org/9014
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/17032

History

No history.

Subscriptions

Gnu Less

Weaknesses

NVD-CWE-Other

Sources

CVE record Updated: Aug 8, 2024, 1:22 AM

Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: mitre
Published: Jul 19, 2005, 4:00 AM
Updated: Aug 8, 2024, 1:22 AM
Reserved: Jul 19, 2005, 12:00 AM

View source JSON

Vulnrichment No data

No data.

NVD Updated: Jun 16, 2026, 10:09 PM

Status: Modified
Published: Dec 31, 2004, 5:00 AM
Modified: Jun 16, 2026, 10:09 PM

View source JSON

Red Hat No data

No data.

OpenCVE enrichment No data

No data.

{"containers": {"cna": {"affected": [{"product": "n/a", "vendor": "n/a", "versions": [{"status": "affected", "version": "n/a"}]}], "datePublic": "2004-08-18T00:00:00.000Z", "descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "Format string bug in the open_altfile function in filename.c for GNU less 382, 381, and 358 might allow local users to cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code via format strings in the LESSOPEN environment variable. NOTE: since less is not setuid or setgid, then this is not a vulnerability unless there are plausible scenarios under which privilege boundaries could be crossed"}], "problemTypes": [{"descriptions": [{"description": "n/a", "lang": "en", "type": "text"}]}], "providerMetadata": {"dateUpdated": "2017-07-10T14:57:01.000Z", "orgId": "8254265b-2729-46b6-b9e3-3dfca2d5bfca", "shortName": "mitre"}, "references": [{"name": "9014", "tags": ["vdb-entry", "x_refsource_OSVDB"], "url": "http://www.osvdb.org/9014"}, {"name": "1010988", "tags": ["vdb-entry", "x_refsource_SECTRACK"], "url": "http://securitytracker.com/id?1010988"}, {"name": "less-filename-format-string(17032)", "tags": ["vdb-entry", "x_refsource_XF"], "url": "https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/17032"}, {"name": "20040818 gnu-less Format String Vulnerability", "tags": ["mailing-list", "x_refsource_FULLDISC"], "url": "http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2004-08/0794.html"}, {"name": "20040818 Re: gnu-less Format String Vulnerability", "tags": ["mailing-list", "x_refsource_FULLDISC"], "url": "http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2004-08/0811.html"}], "tags": ["disputed"], "x_legacyV4Record": {"CVE_data_meta": {"ASSIGNER": "cve@mitre.org", "ID": "CVE-2004-2264", "STATE": "PUBLIC"}, "affects": {"vendor": {"vendor_data": [{"product": {"product_data": [{"product_name": "n/a", "version": {"version_data": [{"version_value": "n/a"}]}}]}, "vendor_name": "n/a"}]}}, "data_format": "MITRE", "data_type": "CVE", "data_version": "4.0", "description": {"description_data": [{"lang": "eng", "value": "** DISPUTED ** Format string bug in the open_altfile function in filename.c for GNU less 382, 381, and 358 might allow local users to cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code via format strings in the LESSOPEN environment variable. NOTE: since less is not setuid or setgid, then this is not a vulnerability unless there are plausible scenarios under which privilege boundaries could be crossed."}]}, "problemtype": {"problemtype_data": [{"description": [{"lang": "eng", "value": "n/a"}]}]}, "references": {"reference_data": [{"name": "9014", "refsource": "OSVDB", "url": "http://www.osvdb.org/9014"}, {"name": "1010988", "refsource": "SECTRACK", "url": "http://securitytracker.com/id?1010988"}, {"name": "less-filename-format-string(17032)", "refsource": "XF", "url": "https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/17032"}, {"name": "20040818 gnu-less Format String Vulnerability", "refsource": "FULLDISC", "url": "http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2004-08/0794.html"}, {"name": "20040818 Re: gnu-less Format String Vulnerability", "refsource": "FULLDISC", "url": "http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2004-08/0811.html"}]}}}, "adp": [{"providerMetadata": {"orgId": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108", "shortName": "CVE", "dateUpdated": "2024-08-08T01:22:13.177Z"}, "title": "CVE Program Container", "references": [{"name": "9014", "tags": ["vdb-entry", "x_refsource_OSVDB", "x_transferred"], "url": "http://www.osvdb.org/9014"}, {"name": "1010988", "tags": ["vdb-entry", "x_refsource_SECTRACK", "x_transferred"], "url": "http://securitytracker.com/id?1010988"}, {"name": "less-filename-format-string(17032)", "tags": ["vdb-entry", "x_refsource_XF", "x_transferred"], "url": "https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/17032"}, {"name": "20040818 gnu-less Format String Vulnerability", "tags": ["mailing-list", "x_refsource_FULLDISC", "x_transferred"], "url": "http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2004-08/0794.html"}, {"name": "20040818 Re: gnu-less Format String Vulnerability", "tags": ["mailing-list", "x_refsource_FULLDISC", "x_transferred"], "url": "http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2004-08/0811.html"}]}]}, "cveMetadata": {"assignerOrgId": "8254265b-2729-46b6-b9e3-3dfca2d5bfca", "assignerShortName": "mitre", "cveId": "CVE-2004-2264", "datePublished": "2005-07-19T04:00:00.000Z", "dateReserved": "2005-07-19T00:00:00.000Z", "dateUpdated": "2024-08-08T01:22:13.177Z", "state": "PUBLISHED"}, "dataType": "CVE_RECORD", "dataVersion": "5.1"}

{"affected": [{"affectedData": [{"product": "n/a", "vendor": "n/a", "versions": [{"status": "affected", "version": "n/a"}]}], "source": "cve@mitre.org"}], "configurations": [{"nodes": [{"cpeMatch": [{"criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:gnu:less:358:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "matchCriteriaId": "4116A3D4-F556-45E6-AB1D-F31250289254", "vulnerable": true}, {"criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:gnu:less:381:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "matchCriteriaId": "88424082-E03D-49CF-AD32-57D194EF566D", "vulnerable": true}, {"criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:gnu:less:382:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "matchCriteriaId": "07E3A41B-CFC5-421E-9DF6-EE969658B0EE", "vulnerable": true}], "negate": false, "operator": "OR"}]}], "cveTags": [{"sourceIdentifier": "cve@mitre.org", "tags": ["disputed"]}], "descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "Format string bug in the open_altfile function in filename.c for GNU less 382, 381, and 358 might allow local users to cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code via format strings in the LESSOPEN environment variable. NOTE: since less is not setuid or setgid, then this is not a vulnerability unless there are plausible scenarios under which privilege boundaries could be crossed"}], "id": "CVE-2004-2264", "lastModified": "2026-06-16T22:09:20.133", "metrics": {"cvssMetricV2": [{"acInsufInfo": false, "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM", "cvssData": {"accessComplexity": "LOW", "accessVector": "NETWORK", "authentication": "NONE", "availabilityImpact": "PARTIAL", "baseScore": 6.4, "confidentialityImpact": "NONE", "integrityImpact": "PARTIAL", "vectorString": "AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P", "version": "2.0"}, "exploitabilityScore": 10.0, "impactScore": 4.9, "obtainAllPrivilege": false, "obtainOtherPrivilege": false, "obtainUserPrivilege": false, "source": "nvd@nist.gov", "type": "Primary", "userInteractionRequired": false}]}, "published": "2004-12-31T05:00:00.000", "references": [{"source": "cve@mitre.org", "url": "http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2004-08/0794.html"}, {"source": "cve@mitre.org", "url": "http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2004-08/0811.html"}, {"source": "cve@mitre.org", "url": "http://securitytracker.com/id?1010988"}, {"source": "cve@mitre.org", "url": "http://www.osvdb.org/9014"}, {"source": "cve@mitre.org", "url": "https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/17032"}, {"source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108", "url": "http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2004-08/0794.html"}, {"source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108", "url": "http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2004-08/0811.html"}, {"source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108", "url": "http://securitytracker.com/id?1010988"}, {"source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108", "url": "http://www.osvdb.org/9014"}, {"source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108", "url": "https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/17032"}], "sourceIdentifier": "cve@mitre.org", "vulnStatus": "Modified", "weaknesses": [{"description": [{"lang": "en", "value": "NVD-CWE-Other"}], "source": "nvd@nist.gov", "type": "Primary"}]}