CVE-2017-17521 Command injection in n/a
Attackers can execute arbitrary commands via argument injection in FontForge by exploiting unvalidated strings passed to the BROWSER environment variable.
- 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
What is CVE-2017-17521?
CVE-2017-17521 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in n/a, published on 14 Dec 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
uiutil.c in FontForge through 20170731 does not validate strings before launching the program specified by the BROWSER environment variable, which might allow remote attackers to conduct argument-injection attacks via a crafted URL, a different vulnerability than CVE-2017-17534.
Weakness: CWE-74
Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-17521?
It affects 1 product.
Linux distribution packages (3)
fontforge SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP6 | All versions | 20200314-150200.3.9.1 |
fontforge openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | All versions | 20200314-150200.3.9.1 |
fontforge openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 20230101-6.1 |
Products include Fontforge Fontforge.
How do I fix CVE-2017-17521?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, and pass arguments to programs as a list instead of through a shell. More about Command injection.
Is CVE-2017-17521 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-17521 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in n/a
- CVE-2019-15785 Memory corruption in n/a
- CVE-2025-15269 FontForge SFD File Parsing Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- CVE-2025-15270 FontForge SFD File Parsing Improper Validation of Array Index Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- CVE-2025-15271 FontForge SFD File Parsing Improper Validation of Array Index Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- CVE-2025-15272 FontForge SFD File Parsing Heap-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2017-17521, GHSA-8vv4-vqx2-f85v, SUSE-SU-2025:1199-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-17521, openSUSE-SU-2025:14981-1.