CVE-2017-20229

critical · 9.3

MAWK 1.3.3-17 and prior contains a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code by exploiting inadequate boundary checks on user-supplied input. Attackers can craft malicious input that overflows the stack buffer and execute a return-oriented programming chain to spawn a shell with application privileges.

9.3

CVSS

0.6%

EPSS (exploit prob.)

47th

EPSS percentile

2026-03-28

Published

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Weaknesses

CWE-787

Affected products

Vendor	Product	Affected versions
invisible-island	mawk	<= 1.3.3-17

Check a specific version with /api/v1/cve/match.

References

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42357
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/mawk-17-stack-based-buffer-overflow

Query this programmatically:

curl https://evil-db.io/api/v1/cve/CVE-2017-20229