# CVE-2020-36617: ewxrjk sftpserver parse.c sftp_parse_path uninitialized pointer

> An uninitialized pointer in the SFTP path parser can cause a crash, requiring specific deployment models to exploit.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 18 Dec 2022
- **Updated:** 15 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-55pf-9mrw-9459

## What is CVE-2020-36617?

CVE-2020-36617 is a medium-severity vulnerability in ewxrjk sftpserver, published on 18 Dec 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability was found in ewxrjk sftpserver. It has been declared as problematic. Affected by this vulnerability is the function sftp_parse_path of the file parse.c. The manipulation leads to uninitialized pointer. The real existence of this vulnerability is still doubted at the moment. The name of the patch is bf4032f34832ee11d79aa60a226cc018e7ec5eed. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier VDB-216205 was assigned to this vulnerability. NOTE: In some deployment models this would be a vulnerability. README specifically warns about avoiding such deployment models.

Weakness: CWE-908 (Use of Uninitialized Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-36617?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Greenend Sftpserver.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-36617?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-36617 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-36617 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-36617 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-36617 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-36617 is a medium-severity vulnerability in ewxrjk sftpserver, published on 18 Dec 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-36617 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: ewxrjk sftpserver. 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-2020-36617/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-36617/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-36617
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-36617
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-36617

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-36617/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.