# CVE-2005-0490: Memory corruption in n/a

> Remote attackers can execute arbitrary code via stack-based buffer overflows in cURL's NTLM and Kerberos authentication handling.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 21 Feb 2005
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** CURL-CVE-2005-0490, DEBIAN-CVE-2005-0490, GHSA-7mv6-r5f6-w598, RHSA-2005:340

## What is CVE-2005-0490?

CVE-2005-0490 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Haxx Curl, published on 21 Feb 2005. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Multiple stack-based buffer overflows in libcURL and cURL 7.12.1, and possibly other versions, allow remote malicious web servers to execute arbitrary code via base64 encoded replies that exceed the intended buffer lengths when decoded, which is not properly handled by (1) the Curl_input_ntlm function in http_ntlm.c during NTLM authentication or (2) the Curl_krb_kauth and krb4_auth functions in krb4.c during Kerberos authentication.

Weakness: CWE-131 (Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2005-0490?

It affects 2 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `curl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:7.10.6-6.rhel3 |
| `curl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:7.10.6-6.rhel3 |
| `curl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:7.10.6-6.rhel3 |
| `curl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:7.10.6-6.rhel3 |
| `curl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:7.10.6-6.rhel3 |
| `curl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:7.10.6-6.rhel3 |
| `curl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:7.10.6-6.rhel3 |
| `curl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:7.10.6-6.rhel3 |
| `curl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:7.10.6-6.rhel3 |
| `curl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:7.10.6-6.rhel3 |
| `curl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:7.10.6-6.rhel3 |
| `curl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:7.10.6-6.rhel3 |
| `curl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::as | All versions | 0:7.12.1-5.rhel4 |
| `curl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::as | All versions | 0:7.12.1-5.rhel4 |
| `curl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::as | All versions | 0:7.12.1-5.rhel4 |
| `curl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::desktop | All versions | 0:7.12.1-5.rhel4 |
| `curl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::desktop | All versions | 0:7.12.1-5.rhel4 |
| `curl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::desktop | All versions | 0:7.12.1-5.rhel4 |
| `curl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::es | All versions | 0:7.12.1-5.rhel4 |
| `curl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::es | All versions | 0:7.12.1-5.rhel4 |
| `curl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::es | All versions | 0:7.12.1-5.rhel4 |
| `curl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::ws | All versions | 0:7.12.1-5.rhel4 |
| `curl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::ws | All versions | 0:7.12.1-5.rhel4 |
| `curl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::ws | All versions | 0:7.12.1-5.rhel4 |

Products: Haxx Curl, Haxx Libcurl.

## How do I fix CVE-2005-0490?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2005-0490 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2005-0490 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Haxx Curl

- [CVE-2026-19931](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-19931/): Negotiate ambient user conn reuse (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-10536](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-10536/): HTTP/2 stream-dependency tree UAF (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-11856](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-11856/): cross-origin Digest auth state leak (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-8925](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-8925/): SASL double-free (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-9079](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-9079/): stale proxy password leak (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2005-0490 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2005-0490 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Haxx Curl, published on 21 Feb 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-2005-0490 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Haxx Curl. 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-2005-0490/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-0490/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2005-0490
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2005-0490
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2005-0490

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-0490/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.