CVE Intelligence
High Memory corruption exploit reference

CVE-2025-69720 — Stack-based Buffer Overflow in Gnu Ncurses

The infocmp command-line tool in ncurses before 6.5-20251213 has a stack-based buffer overflow in analyze_string in progs/infocmp.c.

Published Mar 19, 2026 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: mitre

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.4% (30-day exploitation probability)+6
  • Technical severity (high)+6
  • CISA SSVC: exploitation "poc"+5
  • Automatable exploitation (SSVC)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

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

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.45%
ahead of 37% of scored CVEs · Oct 15, 2026
Affects
Gnu
Ncurses
CVSS base
7.8
High · 5 source(s)
Prioritization reference: 9.8 provisional

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
Proof of concept
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
Yes
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

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

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

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 (Gnu Ncurses, Invisible-island Ncurses).
  2. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  3. Exploitation requires user interaction: tighten email/web filtering and warn affected users.
  4. 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.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Gnu Ncurses < 6.5-20251213 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Invisible-island Ncurses version 6.5-20250712version 6.5-20250222version 6.5-20250705version 6.5-20250628version 6.5-20250621version 6.5-20250614version 6.5-20250531version 6.5-20250524
and 74 more version 6.5-20250517version 6.5-20250510version 6.5-20250503version 6.5-20250426version 6.5-20250419version 6.5-20250412version 6.5-20250405version 6.5-20250329version 6.5-20250322version 6.5-20250315version 6.5-20250308version 6.5-20250301version 6.5-20250216version 6.5-20251004version 6.5-20251206version 6.5-20251129version 6.5-20251123version 6.5-20251122version 6.5-20251115version 6.5-20251101version 6.5-20251025version 6.5-20251018version 6.5-20251010version 6.5-20250720version 6.5-20250927version 6.5-20250920version 6.5-20250913version 6.5-20250830version 6.5-20250823version 6.5-20250816version 6.5-20250809version 6.5-20250802version 6.5-20250726version 6.5-20240622version 6.5-20240914version 6.5-20240831version 6.5-20240824version 6.5-20240817version 6.5-20240810version 6.5-20240727version 6.5-20240720version 6.5-20240713version 6.5-20240706version 6.5-20240629version 6.5-20240922version 6.5-20240615version 6.5-20240608version 6.5-20240601version 6.5-20240525version 6.5-20240519version 6.5-20240518version 6.5-20240511version 6.5-20240504version 6.5-20240427version 6.5-20241214version 6.5-20250215version 6.5-20250208version 6.5-20250201version 6.5-20250125version 6.5-20250118version 6.5-20250111version 6.5-20250104version 6.5-20241228version 6.5-20241221≤ 6.4version 6.5-20241207version 6.5-20241130version 6.5-20241123version 6.5-20241109version 6.5-20241102version 6.5-20241026version 6.5-20241019version 6.5-20241006version 6.5-20240928
Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

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

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Every base score collected

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

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
9.8 CVSS 3.1 Critical 3.9 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
9.8 CVSS 3.1 Critical — — CISA-ADP via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
7.8 CVSS 3.1 High 1.8 5.9 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.3 CVSS 3.1 High 1.8 5.5 cve@mitre.org via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.3 CVSS 3.1 High — — mitre via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)
Scoring entities (NIST, CNA, ADP) score independently; each score is shown with its origin. For prioritization we use 9.8 (CISA ADP via NIST National Vulnerability Database) as a conservative provisional reference — not a definitive official score.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-121 · Stack-based Buffer Overflow

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 15, 2026 · 3 reading(s) · max 0.45%

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.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)crash dumps

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · gnu/ncurses
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • CVSS changed · 7.8
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Modified
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVE published
    Mar 19, 2026 · mitre

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

7 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Gnu
every CVE for this vendor
Memory corruption
same class
CWE-121
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2020-19189 Buffer Overflow vulnerability in postprocess_terminfo function in tinfo/parse_entry.c:997 in... Aug 22, 2023
  • CVE-2020-19190 Buffer Overflow vulnerability in _nc_find_entry in tinfo/comp_hash.c:70 in ncurses 6.1 allows... Aug 22, 2023
  • CVE-2020-19188 Buffer Overflow vulnerability in fmt_entry function in progs/dump_entry.c:1116 in ncurses 6.1... Aug 22, 2023
  • CVE-2020-19187 Buffer Overflow vulnerability in fmt_entry function in progs/dump_entry.c:1100 in ncurses 6.1... Aug 22, 2023
  • CVE-2020-19186 Buffer Overflow vulnerability in _nc_find_entry function in tinfo/comp_hash.c:66 in ncurses 6.1... Aug 22, 2023
  • CVE-2020-19185 Buffer Overflow vulnerability in one_one_mapping function in progs/dump_entry.c:1373 in ncurses 6... 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 fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
  • 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-2025-69720 is "Stack-based Buffer Overflow in Gnu Ncurses", rated High. It affects Ncurses (Gnu); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 7.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.45% 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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