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CVE-2004-0548· NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

Multiple stack-based buffer overflows in the word-list-compress functionality in compress.c for Aspell allow local users to execute arbitrar

Multiple stack-based buffer overflows in the word-list-compress functionality in compress.c for Aspell allow local users to execute arbitrary code via a long entry in the wordlist that is not properly handled when using the (1) "c" compress option or (2) "d" decompress option.

HighCVSS 7.2 · v2.0—Proof of concept Fix available
Published
Aug 6, 2004
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.9% · 59th percentile
CWE
—
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

28

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
28 / 40 · 7.2 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.9%

Affected systems

VendorProduct
gnuaspell
gentoolinux

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • gentoo linux1.4
  • gnu aspell0.50.5

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12aspellbefore 0.50.5-30.50.5-3

Same product

gnu: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2019-20433libaspell.a in GNU Aspell before 0.60.8 has a buffer over-read for a string ending with a single '\0' byte, if the encoding is set to ucs-2
    37Monitor
  • CVE-2019-17544libaspell.a in GNU Aspell before 0.60.8 has a stack-based buffer over-read in acommon::unescape in common/getdata.cpp via an isolated \ char
    37Monitor
  • CVE-2019-25051objstack in GNU Aspell 0.60.8 has a heap-based buffer overflow in acommon::ObjStack::dup_top (called from acommon::StringMap::add and acommo
    31Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
debian:aspell0.50.5-3 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

Proof of concept available

A public proof of concept or detection signature exists. Exploit knowledge is out there; don't delay patching.

Evidence

  • Exploit-DB entry ×1

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Exploit-DB entrylocal2004-12-01

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

  1. Published
  2. First PoC+117 d
  3. TodaySep 30, 2026+8091 d
EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
C · data can be read
Integrity
C · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
C · the service can be disrupted
Attack complexity
Low
Confidentiality impact
C
Integrity impact
C
Availability impact
C

Weakness class (CWE)

—

CVSS vector

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

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Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records