# CVE-2017-20161: rofl0r MacGeiger ESSID macgeiger.c dump_wlan_at injection

> An injection vulnerability in MacGeiger's ESSID handler allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted WLAN data.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 Jan 2023
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cwxh-q334-gq6j

## What is CVE-2017-20161?

CVE-2017-20161 is a medium-severity code injection vulnerability in rofl0r MacGeiger, published on 2 Jan 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in rofl0r MacGeiger. Affected is the function dump_wlan_at of the file macgeiger.c of the component ESSID Handler. The manipulation leads to injection. Access to the local network is required for this attack to succeed. The complexity of an attack is rather high. The exploitability is told to be difficult. The name of the patch is 57f1dd50a4821b8c8e676e8020006ae4bfd3c9cb. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-217188.

Weakness: CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-20161?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Macgeiger Project Macgeiger.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-20161?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-20161 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-20161 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-20161 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-20161 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-20161 is a medium-severity code injection vulnerability in rofl0r MacGeiger, published on 2 Jan 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-20161 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: rofl0r MacGeiger. 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-2017-20161/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-20161/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-20161
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-20161
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-20161

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-20161/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.