Denial of service in GNU Less

1) Input validation error

EUVDB-ID: #VU72127

Risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 1 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2022-46663

CWE-ID: CWE-20 - Improper input validation

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to insufficient validation of the ANSI escape sequences in the "less -R" output. A remote attacker can trick the victim to run the command against the specially crafted data and perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

less: 566 - 608

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:a:gnu:less:566:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:gnu:less:567:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:gnu:less:568:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

External links

https://github.com/gwsw/less/commit/a78e1351113cef564d790a730d657a321624d79c
https://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/news.609.html
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/02/07/7
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/02/07/7

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.