Detections
Analytics

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS / 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS : ncurses vulnerability (USN-8503-1)

high Nessus Plugin ID 325224

Language:

Synopsis

The remote Ubuntu host is missing a security update.

Description

The remote Ubuntu 14.04 LTS / 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the USN-8503-1 advisory.

 It was discovered that ncurses incorrectly handled certain terminfo entries in the infocmp tool. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service via a crafted terminfo file.

 The default compiler options for affected releases should reduce the vulnerability to a denial of service.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Update the affected packages.

See Also

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8503-1

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 325224

File Name: ubuntu_USN-8503-1.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Published: 7/6/2026

Updated: 7/6/2026

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Continuous Assessment, Tenable Cloud Security, Tenable Self-Hosted Container Security, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.9

Percentile: 57.55

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.2

Temporal Score: 5.6

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2025-69720

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 7

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib32ncurses5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib32ncurses5-dev, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib32ncursesw5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib32ncursesw5-dev, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib32tinfo-dev, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib32tinfo5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib64ncurses5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib64ncurses5-dev, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib64tinfo5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libncurses5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libncurses5-dev, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libncursesw5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libncursesw5-dev, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libtinfo-dev, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libtinfo5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libx32ncurses5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libx32ncurses5-dev, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libx32ncursesw5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libx32ncursesw5-dev, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libx32tinfo-dev, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libx32tinfo5, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:ncurses-base, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:ncurses-bin, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:ncurses-examples, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:ncurses-term, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib32ncurses-dev, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib32ncurses6, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib32ncursesw6, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib32tinfo6, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib64ncurses-dev, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib64ncurses6, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib64ncursesw6, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:lib64tinfo6, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libncurses-dev, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libncurses6, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libncursesw6, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libtinfo6

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/Debian/dpkg-l, Host/Ubuntu, Host/Ubuntu/release

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 7/2/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 3/10/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2025-69720

USN: 8503-1