# CVE-2005-3172: Memory corruption in n/a

> A buffer overflow in Windows 2000 string conversion allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via crafted Japanese characters.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 6 Oct 2005
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-gp5h-cmjc-5gj4

## What is CVE-2005-3172?

CVE-2005-3172 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 2000, published on 6 Oct 2005. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The WideCharToMultiByte function in Microsoft Windows 2000 before Update Rollup 1 for SP4 does not properly convert strings with Japanese composite characters in the last character, which could prevent the string from being null terminated and lead to data corruption or enable buffer overflow attacks.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2005-3172?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Microsoft Windows 2000.

## How do I fix CVE-2005-3172?

No fix has been published for CVE-2005-3172 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2005-3172 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2005-3172 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows 2000

- [CVE-2008-4250](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-4250/): Microsoft Windows Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2010-0232](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-0232/): Microsoft Windows Kernel Exception Handler (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2009-1123](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1123/): Microsoft Windows Improper Input Validation (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2002-0367](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2002-0367/): Microsoft Windows Privilege Escalation (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2010-0269](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-0269/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2005-3172 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2005-3172 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 2000, published on 6 Oct 2005. 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-2005-3172 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Microsoft Windows 2000. 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-2005-3172/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-3172/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2005-3172
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2005-3172
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2005-3172

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-3172/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.