CVE-2017-7407 — The ourWriteOut function in tool_writeout

The ourWriteOut function in tool_writeout.c in curl 7.53.1 might allow physically proximate attackers to obtain sensitive information from process memory in opportunistic circumstances by reading a workstation screen during use of a --write-out argument ending in a '%'

01What is this vulnerability?

The ourWriteOut function in tool_writeout.c in curl 7.53.1 might allow physically proximate attackers to obtain sensitive information from process memory in opportunistic circumstances by reading a workstation screen during use of a --write-out argument ending in a '%' character, which leads to a heap-based buffer over-read.

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

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2017-04-03T20:59:00.247
• Last modified: 2026-05-13T00:24:29.033

09References

• www.oracle.com — http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuoct2018-4428296.html
• access.redhat.com — https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3558
• github.com — https://github.com/curl/curl/commit/1890d59905414ab84a35892b2e45833654aa5c13
• security.gentoo.org — https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201709-14
• www.oracle.com — http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuoct2018-4428296.html
• access.redhat.com — https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3558
• github.com — https://github.com/curl/curl/commit/1890d59905414ab84a35892b2e45833654aa5c13
• security.gentoo.org — https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201709-14