# CVE-2005-0638: Command injection in n/a

> Attackers can execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in filenames when viewing compressed images in xloadimage or xli.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 4 Mar 2005
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2005-0638, GHSA-r884-j2c4-8c9q, RHSA-2005:332

## What is CVE-2005-0638?

CVE-2005-0638 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Suse Suse Linux, published on 4 Mar 2005. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

xloadimage before 4.1-r2, and xli before 1.17, allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in filenames for compressed images, which are not properly quoted when calling the gunzip command.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2005-0638?

It affects 3 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `xloadimage` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL3 |
| `xloadimage-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL3 |
| `xloadimage` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL3 |
| `xloadimage-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL3 |
| `xloadimage` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL3 |
| `xloadimage-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL3 |
| `xloadimage` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL3 |
| `xloadimage-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL3 |
| `xloadimage` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::as | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL4 |
| `xloadimage-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::as | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL4 |
| `xloadimage` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::desktop | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL4 |
| `xloadimage-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::desktop | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL4 |
| `xloadimage` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::es | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL4 |
| `xloadimage-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::es | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL4 |
| `xloadimage` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::ws | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL4 |
| `xloadimage-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::ws | All versions | 0:4.1-34.RHEL4 |

Products: Altlinux Alt Linux, Suse Suse Linux, Xli Xli.

## How do I fix CVE-2005-0638?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2005-0638 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2005-0638 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Suse Suse Linux

- [CVE-2005-0699](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-0699/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2005-0605](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-0605/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2005-0639](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-0639/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2005-0667](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-0667/): Memory corruption in n/a (medium 5.1)
- [CVE-2005-0398](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-0398/): Denial of service in n/a (medium 5.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2005-0638 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2005-0638 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Suse Suse Linux, published on 4 Mar 2005. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2005-0638 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Suse Suse Linux. 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-2005-0638/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-0638/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2005-0638
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2005-0638
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2005-0638

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-0638/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.