# CVE-2002-1689: Memory corruption in n/a

> Remote attackers can trigger a buffer overflow in the AIX login program by sending excessive environment variables, potentially executing arbitrary code.

- **Severity:** Critical 10.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 21 Jun 2005
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xqmh-wj7x-9rxf

## What is CVE-2002-1689?

CVE-2002-1689 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Ibm Aix, published on 21 Jun 2005. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Unknown vulnerability in the login program on AIX before 4.0 could allow remote users to specify 100 or more environment variables when logging on, which exceeds the length of a certain string, possibly triggering a buffer overflow.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2002-1689?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Aix.

## How do I fix CVE-2002-1689?

No fix has been published for CVE-2002-1689 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2002-1689 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2002-1689 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Ibm Aix

- [CVE-2025-36250](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-36250/): AIX Code Execution (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2024-56346](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-56346/): IBM AIX command execution (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2010-3187](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3187/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2009-3699](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3699/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2009-3517](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3517/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2002-1689 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2002-1689 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Ibm Aix, published on 21 Jun 2005. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2002-1689 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Ibm Aix. 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-2002-1689/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2002-1689/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2002-1689
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2002-1689
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2002-1689

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2002-1689/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.