CVE-2017-5668 — bitlbee-libpurple before 3

bitlbee-libpurple before 3.5.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a file transfer request for a contact that is not in the contact list. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an in

01What is this vulnerability?

bitlbee-libpurple before 3.5.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a file transfer request for a contact that is not in the contact list. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2016-10189.

02Affected products

No structured affected-product list available — see references below for vendor advisories.

03Active exploitation status

Not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. EPSS is the best forward-looking signal — see the EPSS row above.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Ask SARA in chat to draft a starting detection for this CVE in your stack of choice.

07Related CVEs

08Timeline

• Published: 2017-03-14T14:59:00.417
• Last modified: 2026-05-13T00:24:29.033

09References

• www.openwall.com — http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/01/30/4
• www.openwall.com — http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/01/31/11
• www.securityfocus.com — http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95932
• bugs.bitlbee.org — https://bugs.bitlbee.org/ticket/1282
• github.com — https://github.com/bitlbee/bitlbee/commit/30d598ce7cd3f136ee9d7097f39fa9818a2724…
• www.openwall.com — http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/01/30/4
• www.openwall.com — http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/01/31/11
• www.securityfocus.com — http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95932
• bugs.bitlbee.org — https://bugs.bitlbee.org/ticket/1282
• github.com — https://github.com/bitlbee/bitlbee/commit/30d598ce7cd3f136ee9d7097f39fa9818a2724…