# CVE-2010-0420: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash the Pidgin client by sending crafted nicknames in XMPP multi-user chat rooms, requiring the MUC feature to be active.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/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:** Yes
- **Published:** 24 Feb 2010
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2010-0420, GHSA-r3rc-v556-7p45

## What is CVE-2010-0420?

CVE-2010-0420 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Pidgin Pidgin, published on 24 Feb 2010. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

libpurple in Finch in Pidgin before 2.6.6, when an XMPP multi-user chat (MUC) room is used, does not properly parse nicknames containing <br> sequences, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a crafted nickname.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2010-0420?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Pidgin Pidgin.

## How do I fix CVE-2010-0420?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2010-0420 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2010-0420 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Pidgin Pidgin

- [CVE-2013-6490](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6490/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2016-1000030](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-1000030/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2013-6486](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6486/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2011-3185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-3185/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2009-1376](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1376/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2010-0420 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2010-0420 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Pidgin Pidgin, published on 24 Feb 2010. 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-2010-0420 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Pidgin Pidgin. 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-2010-0420/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-0420/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2010-0420
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2010-0420
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2010-0420

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-0420/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.