# CVE-2003-0252: Memory corruption in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause denial of service or execute arbitrary code via malformed RPC requests to the mountd service in Linux NFS utilities.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Jul 2003
- **Updated:** 8 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2003-0252, DSA-349, GHSA-69rx-rcww-qf58

## What is CVE-2003-0252?

CVE-2003-0252 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Jul 2003. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Off-by-one error in the xlog function of mountd in the Linux NFS utils package (nfs-utils) before 1.0.4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via certain RPC requests to mountd that do not contain newlines.

Weakness: CWE-193 (Off-by-one Error)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2003-0252?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux-Nfs Nfs-Utils.

## How do I fix CVE-2003-0252?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2003-0252 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2003-0252 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2011-2500](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2500/): Auth bypass in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2025-12801](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-12801/): Nfs-utils: rpc.mountd in the nfs-utils privilege escalation (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2019-3689](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3689/): nfs-utils: root-owned files stored in insecure /var/lib/nfs directory (medium 5.1)
- [CVE-2011-1749](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-1749/): Denial of service in n/a (low 3.3)
- [CVE-2013-1923](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-1923/): Information disclosure in n/a (low 3.2)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2003-0252 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2003-0252 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Jul 2003. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2003-0252 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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-2003-0252/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0252/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2003-0252
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2003-0252
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2003-0252

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0252/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.