# CVE-2019-6442: Memory corruption in n/a

> An authenticated attacker can trigger an out-of-bounds write in NTPsec, potentially leading to code execution or privilege escalation.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 16 Jan 2019
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2019-6442, GHSA-x553-v9rp-pgh7, UBUNTU-CVE-2019-6442

## What is CVE-2019-6442?

CVE-2019-6442 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 16 Jan 2019. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in NTPsec before 1.1.3. An authenticated attacker can write one byte out of bounds in ntpd via a malformed config request, related to config_remotely in ntp_config.c, yyparse in ntp_parser.tab.c, and yyerror in ntp_parser.y.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-6442?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ntpsec Ntpsec.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-6442?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2019-6442 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2019-6442 exists.

Public exploit code:

- NTPsec 1.1.2 - 'config' (Authenticated) Out-of-Bounds Write Denial of Service (PoC) (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2019-6443](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6443/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2019-6444](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6444/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2023-4012](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-4012/): Incomplete Internal State Distinction in ntpsec (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2019-6445](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6445/): Null dereference in n/a (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-6442 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-6442 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 16 Jan 2019. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2019-6442 exists.

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-2019-6442/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6442/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-6442
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-6442
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-6442

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6442/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.