# CVE-2017-13090: GNU Wget: heap overflow in HTTP protocol handling

> An attacker can trigger a heap overflow in GNU Wget via crafted HTTP chunked responses, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution or privilege escalation.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Oct 2017
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2017-13090, CLEANSTART-2026-JD74997, DEBIAN-CVE-2017-13090, GHSA-55r8-x68f-xh64, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-13090

## What is CVE-2017-13090?

CVE-2017-13090 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 27 Oct 2017. 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

The retr.c:fd_read_body() function is called when processing OK responses. When the response is sent chunked in wget before 1.19.2, the chunk parser uses strtol() to read each chunk's length, but doesn't check that the chunk length is a non-negative number. The code then tries to read the chunk in pieces of 8192 bytes by using the MIN() macro, but ends up passing the negative chunk length to retr.c:fd_read(). As fd_read() takes an int argument, the high 32 bits of the chunk length are discarded, leaving fd_read() with a completely attacker controlled length argument. The attacker can corrupt malloc metadata after the allocated buffer.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer), CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-13090?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Gnu Wget.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-13090?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2017-13090 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-13090 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-13090 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-13090 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 27 Oct 2017. 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-2017-13090 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian 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-2017-13090/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-13090/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-13090
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-13090
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-13090

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-13090/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.