# CVE-2013-2174: Memory corruption in n/a

> Remote attackers can trigger a heap buffer overflow in cURL via crafted strings, potentially causing crashes or arbitrary code execution.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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:** 31 Jul 2013
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** CURL-CVE-2013-2174, DEBIAN-CVE-2013-2174, DSA-2713-1, GHSA-98vv-mx5c-xg6c, MGASA-2013-0188, RHSA-2013:0983

## What is CVE-2013-2174?

CVE-2013-2174 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 31 Jul 2013. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Heap-based buffer overflow in the curl_easy_unescape function in lib/escape.c in cURL and libcurl 7.7 through 7.30.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted string ending in a "%" (percent) character.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-2174?

It affects 5 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `curl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:7.15.5-17.el5_9 |
| `curl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:7.15.5-17.el5_9 |
| `curl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:7.15.5-17.el5_9 |
| `curl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `curl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `libcurl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `libcurl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `curl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `curl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `libcurl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `libcurl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `curl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `curl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `libcurl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `libcurl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `curl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `curl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `libcurl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |
| `libcurl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:7.19.7-37.el6_4 |

Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Haxx Curl, Haxx Libcurl, Opensuse Opensuse, Redhat Enterprise Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-2013-2174?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2013-2174 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-2174 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2020-11651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11651/): SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-7247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7247/): OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-16928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16928/): Exim Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-6789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6789/): Exim Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-2590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2590/): Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2013-2174 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2013-2174 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 31 Jul 2013. 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-2013-2174 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu 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-2013-2174/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2174/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-2174
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-2174
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-2174

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2174/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.