USN-8503-1: ncurses vulnerability

Publication date

2 July 2026

Overview

ncurses could be made to crash if it opened a specially crafted file.


Packages

  • ncurses - shared libraries for terminal handling

Details

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.

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.

Update instructions

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

Learn more about how to get the fixes.

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu Release Package Version
20.04 LTS focal ncurses-bin –  6.2-0ubuntu2.1+esm1  
18.04 LTS bionic ncurses-bin –  6.1-1ubuntu1.18.04.1+esm3  
16.04 LTS xenial ncurses-bin –  6.0+20160213-1ubuntu1+esm6  
14.04 LTS trusty ncurses-bin –  5.9+20140118-1ubuntu1+esm6  

Reduce your security exposure

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