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Vulnerability record · CVE-2005-0256 · published 2 May 2005

CVE-2005-0256: Washington university wu-ftpd memory buffer overflow vulnerability

Washington University · Wu Ftpd

The wu_fnmatch function in wu_fnmatch.c in wu-ftpd 2.6.1 and 2.6.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU exhaustion by recursion) via a glob pattern with a large number of * (wildcard) characters, as demonstrated using the dir command.

5.0 CVSS 2.0 Medium EPSS 5.2% · top 7.8% CWE-119 · Memory buffer overflow
5.0CVSS 2.0 base score
5.2%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
1Affected product versions listed by NVD
30References, 2 tagged exploit
16 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

The wu_fnmatch function in wu_fnmatch.c in wu-ftpd 2.6.1 and 2.6.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU exhaustion by recursion) via a glob pattern with a large number of * (wildcard) characters, as demonstrated using the dir command.

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Affected products

1 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
ftp://ftp.sco.com/pub/updates/OpenServer/SCOSA-2005.63/SCOSA-2005.63.txt
http://itrc.hp.com/service/cki/docDisplay.do?docId=c00637342
http://secunia.com/advisories/14411 Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/18210 Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/19561 Vendor Advisory
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-26-101699-1
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-26-57795-1
http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-705 PatchVendor Advisory
http://www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=207&type=vulnerabilities Exploit
http://www.osvdb.org/14203
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2005/0588 Vendor Advisory
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2006/1271 Vendor Advisory
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A1265
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A1333
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A1762
ftp://ftp.sco.com/pub/updates/OpenServer/SCOSA-2005.63/SCOSA-2005.63.txt
http://itrc.hp.com/service/cki/docDisplay.do?docId=c00637342
http://secunia.com/advisories/14411 Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/18210 Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/19561 Vendor Advisory
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-26-101699-1
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-26-57795-1
http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-705 PatchVendor Advisory
http://www.idefense.com/application/poi/display?id=207&type=vulnerabilities Exploit
http://www.osvdb.org/14203
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2005/0588 Vendor Advisory
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2006/1271 Vendor Advisory
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A1265
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A1333
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A1762

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Related vulnerabilities

Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.

10.0CVE-2004-0185Washington university wu-ftpd vulnerabilityBuffer overflow in the skey_challenge function in ftpd.c for wu-ftp daemon (wu-ftpd) 2.6.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service and p…EPSS 7.4%10.0CVE-2001-0187Washington university wu-ftpd vulnerabilityFormat string vulnerability in wu-ftp 2.6.1 and earlier, when running with debug mode enabled, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands …EPSS 5.7%10.0CVE-1999-0878Beroftpd vulnerabilityBuffer overflow in WU-FTPD and related FTP servers allows remote attackers to gain root privileges via MAPPING_CHDIR.EPSS 2.2%10.0CVE-1999-0368Proftpd project proftpd vulnerabilityBuffer overflows in wuarchive ftpd (wu-ftpd) and ProFTPD lead to remote root access, a.k.a. palmetto.EPSS 40%10.0CVE-1999-0080Washington university wu-ftpd vulnerabilityCertain configurations of wu-ftp FTP server 2.4 use a _PATH_EXECPATH setting to a directory with dangerous commands, such as /bin, which allows remot…EPSS 4.0%9.3CVE-2003-1327Washington university wu-ftpd vulnerabilityBuffer overflow in the SockPrintf function in wu-ftpd 2.6.2 and earlier, when compiled with MAIL_ADMIN option enabled on a system that supports very …EPSS 3.3%7.8CVE-2003-1329Washington university wu-ftpd vulnerabilityftpd.c in wu-ftpd 2.6.2, when running on "operating systems that only allow one non-connected socket bound to the same local address," does not close…EPSS 1.3%7.6CVE-1999-0955Washington university wu-ftpd vulnerabilityRace condition in wu-ftpd and BSDI ftpd allows remote attackers to gain root access via the SITE EXEC command.EPSS 2.5%

Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2005-0256), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.