CVE-2024-37535
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in GNOME VTE allows an attacker to cause denial of service through excessive memory consumption by sending malicious window resize escape sequences. It affects terminal emulators using vulnerable VTE versions, potentially impacting users of GNOME Terminal, Tilix, and other VTE-based applications. The issue is related to a historical vulnerability (CVE-2000-0476) that has resurfaced.
💻 Affected Systems
- GNOME VTE
- GNOME Terminal
- Tilix
- Terminator
- Xfce Terminal
- Other VTE-based terminal emulators
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system unavailability due to memory exhaustion, potentially causing application crashes or system instability.
Likely Case
Terminal emulator crashes or becomes unresponsive, requiring restart of affected applications.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact with proper memory limits and monitoring in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires ability to send escape sequences to vulnerable terminal, typically through command output or crafted content.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 0.76.3
Vendor Advisory: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vte/-/tags/0.76.3
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update VTE library to version 0.76.3 or later. 2. Update affected terminal applications. 3. Restart terminal applications or system.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable window resize escape sequences
linuxConfigure terminal to ignore window resize escape sequences
Check terminal application settings for escape sequence handling options
Implement memory limits
linuxSet memory limits for terminal processes using system controls
ulimit -v [LIMIT_IN_KB]
systemd-run --scope -p MemoryLimit=[LIMIT] command
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict terminal access to trusted users only
- Monitor system memory usage and set alerts for abnormal consumption
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check VTE library version: `pkg-config --modversion vte-2.91` or check terminal application versionCheck Version:
pkg-config --modversion vte-2.91Verify Fix Applied:
Verify VTE version is 0.76.3 or later: `pkg-config --modversion vte-2.91`📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Terminal application crashes
- Abnormal memory consumption by terminal processes
- System out-of-memory events
Network Indicators:
- Not network exploitable - local vulnerability
SIEM Query:
Process memory usage > [THRESHOLD] AND process_name IN ('gnome-terminal', 'tilix', 'terminator')🔗 References
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/06/09/1
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/06/09/2
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vte/-/issues/2786
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vte/-/tags/0.76.3
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/06/09/1
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/06/09/2
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vte/-/issues/2786
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vte/-/tags/0.76.3
