# CVE-2014-3697: Path traversal in n/a

> Remote attackers can write arbitrary files via a malicious smiley theme archive, requiring user interaction to load the theme.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.4 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 29 Oct 2014
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-wxw5-wrpr-5mpw

## What is CVE-2014-3697?

CVE-2014-3697 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Pidgin Pidgin, published on 29 Oct 2014. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Absolute path traversal vulnerability in the untar_block function in win32/untar.c in Pidgin before 2.10.10 on Windows allows remote attackers to write to arbitrary files via a drive name in a tar archive of a smiley theme.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2014-3697?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Pidgin Pidgin.

## How do I fix CVE-2014-3697?

No fix has been published for CVE-2014-3697 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2014-3697 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2014-3697 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-2014-3697 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2014-3697 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Pidgin Pidgin, published on 29 Oct 2014. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2014-3697 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-2014-3697/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3697/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-3697
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-3697
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2014-3697

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3697/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.