CVE-2017-20229

CRITICAL 9.8

MAWK 1.3.3-17 Stack-Based Buffer Overflow

CVSS Score

9.8

EPSS Score

0.1%

EPSS Percentile

23th

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.

CWE	CWE-787
Vendor	mawk
Product	mawk
Published	Mar 28, 2026
Last Updated	Mar 30, 2026

Stay Ahead of the Next One

Get instant alerts for mawk mawk

Be the first to know when new critical vulnerabilities affecting mawk mawk are published — delivered to Slack, Telegram or Discord.

Get Free Alerts → Free · No credit card · 60 sec setup

CVSS v3 Breakdown

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

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Affected Versions

mawk / MAWK

1.3.3-17

References

NVD ↗ CVE.org ↗ EPSS Data ↗

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

Credits

Juan Sacco <[email protected]> at KPN Red Team - http://www.kpn.com