CVE-2018-16741
In fax/faxq-helper.c, the function do_activate() does not properly sanitize shell metacharacters to prevent command injection.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (1.32%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
An issue was discovered in mgetty before 1.2.1. In fax/faxq-helper.c, the function do_activate() does not properly sanitize shell metacharacters to prevent command injection. It is possible to use the ||, &&, or > characters within a file created by the "faxq-helper activate <jobid>" command.
- CVSS 3.0
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 1.32% probability · 71th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-78
- Affected
- mgetty project/mgetty · debian/debian linux
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS 1.3% since 27 October 2026; no change recorded yet. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
References
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00012.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4291Third Party Advisory
- https://www.x41-dsec.de/lab/advisories/x41-2018-007-mgettyExploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00012.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4291Third Party Advisory
- https://www.x41-dsec.de/lab/advisories/x41-2018-007-mgettyExploit, Third Party Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.