# CVE-2002-1503: Memory corruption in n/a

> Local attackers can exploit a buffer overflow in Automatic File Distributor to gain elevated privileges via crafted environment variables or arguments.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 18 Mar 2003
- **Updated:** 8 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-9g67-rqhf-383g

## What is CVE-2002-1503?

CVE-2002-1503 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 18 Mar 2003. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Buffer overflow in Automatic File Distributor (AFD) 1.2.14 and earlier allows local users to gain privileges via a long MON_WORK_DIR environment variable or -w (workdir) argument to (1) afd, (2) afdcmd, (3) afd_ctrl, (4) init_afd, (5) mafd, (6) mon_ctrl, (7) show_olog, or (8) udc.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2002-1503?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Afd Afd.

## How do I fix CVE-2002-1503?

No fix has been published for CVE-2002-1503 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2002-1503 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2002-1503 exists.

Public exploit code:

- AFD 1.2.x - Working Directory Local Buffer Overflow / Local Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2002-1503 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2002-1503 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 18 Mar 2003. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2002-1503 exists.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2002-1503/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2002-1503/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2002-1503
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2002-1503
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2002-1503

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2002-1503/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.