# CVE-2005-4784: Memory corruption in n/a

> Local attackers can cause denial of service or execute arbitrary code via buffer overflows in the POSIX readdir_r function using race conditions or small struct dirent issues.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.6 (`AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:C/I:N/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 14 Apr 2006
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xfmp-2r38-cvc9

## What is CVE-2005-4784?

CVE-2005-4784 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 14 Apr 2006. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Multiple buffer overflows in the POSIX readdir_r function, as used in multiple packages, allow local users to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via (1) a symlink attack that exploits a race condition between opendir and pathcon calls and changes the filesystem to one with a larger maximum directory-entry name length, or (2) possibly via programmer-introduced errors on operating systems with a small struct dirent, such as Solaris or BeOS, as demonstrated in packages including (a) gcj, (b) KDE, (c) libwww, (d) the Rudiments library, (e) teTeX, (f) xmail, (g) bfbtester, (h) ncftp, (i) netwib, (j) OpenOffice.org, (k) Pike, (l) reprepro, (m) Tcl, and (n) xgsmlib.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2005-4784?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Austin Group Posix.

## How do I fix CVE-2005-4784?

No fix has been published for CVE-2005-4784 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2005-4784 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2005-4784 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2005-4784 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2005-4784 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 14 Apr 2006. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2005-4784 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-2005-4784/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-4784/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2005-4784
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2005-4784
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2005-4784

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-4784/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.