CVE-2002-1405: CRLF injection vulnerability in Lynx 2.8.4 and earlier allows remote attackers to inject false HTTP headers in

This month

MEDIUM 5.0DOWNGRADEDOWNGRADEDOWNGRADE

CVE-2002-1405 is a medium-severity flaw (CVSS 5.0) affecting elinks, links, lynx. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

CRLF injection vulnerability in Lynx 2.8.4 and earlier allows remote attackers to inject false HTTP headers into an HTTP request that is provided on the command line, via a URL containing encoded carriage return, line feed, and other whitespace characters.

Why this priority

EPSS top 8%: very likely to be exploited
Public exploit reference

No fix is published yet: follow the downgrade or mitigation steps.

Risk facts

CVSS score	5.0 (Medium)
EPSS exploit chance	5.0% (top 8%)
CISA exploited list	No
Published	2003-02-19
Last modified	2026-06-16

Publisher (CNA): MITRE · Vendor: elinks · links · university of kansas

Last updated 2026-06-16 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score

Am I affected?

Timeline

2003-02-19 05:00 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-06-16 21:59 UTCUpdated Record last modified

elinks elinks DOWNGRADE

Affected: 0.2.4 · 0.3.2

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 0.2.4

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy elinks || rpm -q elinks || elinks --version

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE to a release before 0.2.4 (Debian / Ubuntu)

apt-cache madison elinks sudo apt install elinks=<VERSION_BEFORE_0.2.4> sudo apt-mark hold elinks

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

dnf --showduplicates list elinks sudo dnf downgrade elinks-<VERSION_BEFORE_0.2.4> sudo dnf versionlock add elinks

Downgrade risk

Downgrading can break dependent software and may reopen older bugs. Read the distro advisory first and test on a non-production host.

After downgrade

Restart the service, and keep the package held until a fixed release ships.

links links DOWNGRADE

Affected: 0.96

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 0.96

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy links || rpm -q links || links --version

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE to a release before 0.96 (Debian / Ubuntu)

apt-cache madison links sudo apt install links=<VERSION_BEFORE_0.96> sudo apt-mark hold links

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

dnf --showduplicates list links sudo dnf downgrade links-<VERSION_BEFORE_0.96> sudo dnf versionlock add links

Downgrade risk

Downgrading can break dependent software and may reopen older bugs. Read the distro advisory first and test on a non-production host.

After downgrade

Restart the service, and keep the package held until a fixed release ships.

university of kansas lynx DOWNGRADE

Affected: 2.8.2_rel1 · 2.8.3 · 2.8.3_rel1 · 2.8.4 · 2.8.4_rel1 · 2.8.5_dev8

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 2.8.2_rel1

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy lynx || rpm -q lynx || lynx --version

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE to a release before 2.8.2_rel1 (Debian / Ubuntu)

apt-cache madison lynx sudo apt install lynx=<VERSION_BEFORE_2.8.2_rel1> sudo apt-mark hold lynx

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

dnf --showduplicates list lynx sudo dnf downgrade lynx-<VERSION_BEFORE_2.8.2_rel1> sudo dnf versionlock add lynx

Downgrade risk

Downgrading can break dependent software and may reopen older bugs. Read the distro advisory first and test on a non-production host.

After downgrade

Restart the service, and keep the package held until a fixed release ships.

Public exploits and detection

Public code exists for this CVE. Treat unpatched systems as at risk, and only run PoCs in a lab.

Exploit-DB: Lynx 2.8.x - Command Line URL CRLF Injection

Verify at the official source NVD · CVE Program · Report a problem with this page
Scores and fixes here are computed automatically from those and other public sources. Confirm with the vendor advisory before changing production systems.

Quick answers

How do I fix CVE-2002-1405?

elinks: downgrade or apply the listed mitigation; links: downgrade or apply the listed mitigation; lynx: downgrade or apply the listed mitigation. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2002-1405 being exploited?

CVE-2002-1405 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.

What does CVE-2002-1405 affect?

CVE-2002-1405 affects elinks, links, lynx. Severity is medium (CVSS 5.0). CRLF injection vulnerability in Lynx 2.8.4 and earlier allows remote attackers to inject false HTTP headers into an HTTP request that is provided on the command line, via a URL containing encoded carriage return, line feed, and other whites

How urgent is CVE-2002-1405?

Priority 46/100. EPSS top 8%: very likely to be exploited; Public exploit reference

Related CVEs

CVE-2012-6709 MEDIUM 5.9 DOWNGRADE DOWNGRADE ELinks 0.12 and Twibright Links 2.3 have Missing SSL Certificate Validation.
CVE-2012-4545 MEDIUM 5.1 DOWNGRADE The http_negotiate_create_context function in protocol/http/http_negotiate.c in ELinks 0.12 before 0.12pre6, w
CVE-2008-7224 HIGH 7.8 UPGRADE Buffer overflow in entity_cache in ELinks before 0.11.4rc0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of servic
CVE-2007-5034 MEDIUM 4.3 UPGRADE ELinks before 0.11.3, when sending a POST request for an https URL, appends the body and content headers of th
CVE-2007-2027 MEDIUM 4.4 DOWNGRADE Untrusted search path vulnerability in the add_filename_to_string function in intl/gettext/loadmsgcat.c for El

References

← Back to latest CVEs