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CVE-2019-9896· NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

In PuTTY versions before 0.71 on Windows, local attackers could hijack the application by putting a malicious help file in the same director

In PuTTY versions before 0.71 on Windows, local attackers could hijack the application by putting a malicious help file in the same directory as the executable.

HighCVSS 7.8 · v3.1—Proof of concept Fix available
Published
Mar 21, 2019
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.8% · 53th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

31

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.8%

Affected systems

VendorProduct
puttyputty
microsoftwindows
opensusebackports sle
opensuseleap

Affected versions

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

  • opensuse backports sle15.0
  • opensuse leap15.0
  • putty puttybefore 0.71

Package-level exposure

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

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
openSUSE:Leap 15.0puttybefore 0.71-lp150.9.10.71-lp150.9.1
SUSE:Package Hub 15puttybefore 0.71-bp150.4.3.10.71-bp150.4.3.1

Same product

putty: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2017-6542The ssh_agent_channel_data function in PuTTY before 0.68 allows remote attackers to have unspecified impact via a large length value in an a
    46Plan
  • CVE-2004-1008Integer signedness error in the ssh2_rdpkt function in PuTTY before 0.56 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a SSH2_MSG_DE
    42Plan
  • CVE-2019-9898Potential recycling of random numbers used in cryptography exists within PuTTY before 0.71.
    40Plan
  • CVE-2019-9895In PuTTY versions before 0.71 on Unix, a remotely triggerable buffer overflow exists in any kind of server-to-client forwarding.
    40Plan
  • CVE-2019-17067PuTTY before 0.73 on Windows improperly opens port-forwarding listening sockets, which allows attackers to listen on the same port to steal
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2021-36367PuTTY through 0.75 proceeds with establishing an SSH session even if it has never sent a substantive authentication response.
    32Monitor

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
opensuse:putty0.71-lp150.9.1 · openSUSE:Leap 15.0Package registry (OSV)
suse:putty0.71-bp150.4.3.1 · SUSE:Package Hub 15Package 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

  • Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×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
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:72019-05-13

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+52 d
  3. TodaySep 30, 2026+2750 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

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-427 · Uncontrolled Search Path Element

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

We use this product, ask for help

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

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

All records