# CVE-2017-13728: Denial of service in n/a

> A crafted input triggers an infinite loop in the ncurses library, allowing remote attackers to cause a denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 29 Aug 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2017-13728, DEBIAN-CVE-2017-13728, GHSA-8qvv-3q23-2876, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-13728

## What is CVE-2017-13728?

CVE-2017-13728 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 29 Aug 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

There is an infinite loop in the next_char function in comp_scan.c in ncurses 6.0, related to libtic. A crafted input will lead to a remote denial of service attack.

Weakness: CWE-835 (Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-13728?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Invisible-Island Ncurses.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-13728?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2017-13728 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-13728 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2017-10684](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10684/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-10685](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10685/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-29491](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-29491/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2017-16879](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-16879/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2017-11112](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-11112/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-13728 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-13728 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 29 Aug 2017. 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-2017-13728 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-2017-13728/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-13728/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-13728
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-13728
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-13728

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-13728/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.