CVE-2020-5209

Publication date 28 January 2020

Last updated 26 August 2025

Ubuntu priority

Cvss 3 Severity Score

Description

In NetHack before 3.6.5, unknown options starting with -de and -i can cause a buffer overflow resulting in a crash or remote code execution/privilege escalation. This vulnerability affects systems that have NetHack installed suid/sgid and shared systems that allow users to influence command line options. Users should upgrade to NetHack 3.6.5.

Read the notes from the security team

Status

Show unmaintained releases

Package	Ubuntu Release	Status
nethack	25.10 questing	Not affected
	25.04 plucky	Not affected
	24.10 oracular	Not affected
	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	23.10 mantic	Not affected
	23.04 lunar	Not affected
	22.10 kinetic	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	21.10 impish	Not affected
	21.04 hirsute	Not affected
	20.10 groovy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Needs evaluation
	19.10 eoan	Ignored end of life
	18.04 LTS bionic	Needs evaluation
	16.04 LTS xenial	Needs evaluation
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release

Notes

msalvatore

Nethack is installed sgid games, but not suid or sgid root.

Severity score breakdown

Parameter	Value
Base score	5.0 · Medium
Attack vector	Local
Attack complexity	High
Privileges required	Low
User interaction	Required
Scope	Changed
Confidentiality	Low
Integrity impact	Low
Availability impact	Low
Vector	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L