CVE-2019-17594 — There is a heap-based buffer over-read in the _nc_find_entry function in tinfo/comp_hash.c in the...

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

• Documented patch — lists.gnu.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Invisible-island Ncurses, Opensuse Leap).
2. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-125 · Out-of-bounds Read

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.55%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

• Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
• Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

• 2026
• Record published
  Oct 14, 2026
• Fix documented
  Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Affected products added · invisible-island/ncurses, opensuse/leap
  Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• CVSS changed · 5.3
  Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Source status changed · → Modified
  Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Record created in this database
  Oct 14, 2026 · Alertas do Telegram
• 2019
• CVE published
  Oct 14, 2019 · mitre

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

• 2× References added · Oct 14, 2026 – Oct 14, 2026
• 1× Official description updated · Oct 14, 2026 – Oct 14, 2026

References

8 on the record

• lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses/2019-10/msg00045.html
  Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory, x_refsource_MISC, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00061.html
  Third Party Advisory, vendor-advisory, x_refsource_SUSE, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• security.gentoo.org/glsa/202101-28
  Third Party Advisory, vendor-advisory, x_refsource_GENTOO, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html
  NIST National Vulnerability Database
• lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00059.html
  Third Party Advisory, vendor-advisory, x_refsource_SUSE, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• github.com/advisories/GHSA-wjvh-4293-hh6x
  GitHub Security Advisories
• lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses/2019-10/msg00017.html
  Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory, x_refsource_MISC, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-17594
  GitHub Security Advisories

Elsewhere on this site

Related CVEs (same products)

• High CVE-2026-31431 Linux Kernel Incorrect Resource Transfer Between Spheres Vulnerability KEV Apr 22, 2026
• High CVE-2025-69720 Stack-based Buffer Overflow in Invisible-island Ncurses Mar 19, 2026
• High CVE-2025-32463 Sudo Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere Vulnerability KEV Jun 30, 2025
• Medium CVE-2020-19189 Buffer Overflow vulnerability in postprocess_terminfo function in tinfo/parse_entry.c:997 in... Aug 22, 2023
• Medium CVE-2020-19190 Buffer Overflow vulnerability in _nc_find_entry in tinfo/comp_hash.c:70 in ncurses 6.1 allows... Aug 22, 2023
• Medium CVE-2020-19188 Buffer Overflow vulnerability in fmt_entry function in progs/dump_entry.c:1116 in ncurses 6.1... Aug 22, 2023

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

• No CISA SSVC assessment.
• No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
• No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
• No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2019-17594 is "There is a heap-based buffer over-read in the _nc_find_entry function in tinfo/comp_hash.c in the...", rated Medium. It affects Ncurses (Invisible-island); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 5.3 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.55% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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