CVE-2017-7483: Rxvt 2.7.10 is vulnerable to a denial of service attack by passing the value -2^31 inside a terminal escape co

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HIGH 7.5REMOTEWATCHLISTMITIGATEMITIGATE

CVE-2017-7483 is a high-severity flaw (CVSS 7.5) affecting rxvt, debian linux. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

Rxvt 2.7.10 is vulnerable to a denial of service attack by passing the value -2^31 inside a terminal escape code, which results in a non-invertible integer that eventually leads to a segfault due to an out of bounds read.

Why this priority

High severity
Public exploit reference
Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action
On your watchlist

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

Risk facts

CVSS score	7.5 (High)
Attack vector	Network (remote)
Attack complexity	Low
Privileges needed	None
User interaction	None
EPSS exploit chance	2.4% (top 16%)
CISA exploited list	No
Weakness	CWE-125
Published	2017-05-02
Last modified	2026-06-17

Publisher (CNA): Red Hat, Inc. · Vendor: debian · rxvt project

Last updated 2026-06-17 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score

Am I affected?

Timeline

2017-05-02 14:59 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-06-17 01:24 UTCUpdated Record last modified

rxvt project rxvt MITIGATE

Affected: all versions

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: no unaffected older release

1. Check installed version

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

No fixed or unaffected release known

Apply the vendor mitigation from the advisory, disable the affected feature, or restrict network access.

debian debian linux MITIGATE

Affected: 9.0

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 9.0

Check your OS release

cat /etc/os-release; uname -r

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade

RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh

Windows

Install the latest cumulative update from Windows Update

If no patch exists yet

OS downgrades are not safe. Apply the vendor mitigation from the advisory and restrict exposure.

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-2017-7483?

rxvt: mitigate or apply the listed mitigation; debian linux: mitigate or apply the listed mitigation. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2017-7483 being exploited?

CVE-2017-7483 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-2017-7483 affect?

CVE-2017-7483 affects rxvt, debian linux. Severity is high (CVSS 7.5). Rxvt 2.7.10 is vulnerable to a denial of service attack by passing the value -2^31 inside a terminal escape code, which results in a non-invertible integer that eventually leads to a segfault due to an out of bounds read.

How urgent is CVE-2017-7483?

Priority 62/100. High severity; Public exploit reference; Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action; On your watchlist

Software pages

Debian vulnerabilities

Related CVEs

CVE-2021-33477 HIGH 8.8 DOWNGRADE DOWNGRADE rxvt-unicode 9.22, rxvt 2.7.10, mrxvt 0.5.4, and Eterm 0.9.7 allow (potentially remote) code execution because
CVE-2008-1142 LOW 3.7 UPGRADE UPGRADE rxvt 2.6.4 opens a terminal window on :0 if the DISPLAY environment variable is not set, which might allow loc
CVE-2003-0066 HIGH 7.5 DOWNGRADE The rxvt terminal emulator 2.7.8 and earlier allows attackers to modify the window title via a certain charact
CVE-2003-0023 MEDIUM 5.0 DOWNGRADE The menuBar feature in rxvt 2.7.8 allows attackers to modify menu options and execute arbitrary commands via a
CVE-2003-0022 MEDIUM 5.0 DOWNGRADE The "screen dump" feature in rxvt 2.7.8 allows attackers to overwrite arbitrary files via a certain character

References

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