Read the docs
TI-2017-12790 Aliases CVE-2017-17513GHSA-5fq9-qwgg-j7pg

TeX Live through 20170524 does not validate strings before launching the program…

Priority MEDIUM 41CWE-74Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
No fix listed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.0 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

TeX Live through 20170524 does not validate strings before launching the program specified by the BROWSER environment variable, which might allow remote attackers to conduct argument-injection attacks via a crafted URL, related to linked_scripts/context/stubs/unix/mtxrun, texmf-dist/scripts/context/stubs/mswin/mtxrun.lua, and texmf-dist/tex/luatex/lualibs/lualibs-os.lua.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.01281 70th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
——all versions—No fix listedCNA
  • — Vendor— Affected all versions Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:tug:tex_live:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*up to 20170524VulnerableTug
  • cpe:2.3:a:tug:tex_live:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions up to 20170524 Vulnerable ·Tug

Remediation

No fixed version listed by the sources yet.

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9AffectedNo fix yet
Not affected: 3 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2017-17513
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-5fq9-qwgg-j7pg

References

  • TI-2023-15976 LuaTeX before 1.17.0 allows execution of arbitrary shell commands when compiling a TeX… CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2016-08317 TeX Live allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands by leveraging inclusion of… CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2018-12402 An issue was discovered in t1_check_unusual_charstring functions in writet1.c files in… CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.8
  • TI-2010-00706 Integer overflow in the predospecial function in dospecial.c in dvips in (1) TeX Live and… CVSS 2.0MEDIUM 6.8
  • TI-2010-00788 Integer overflow in dvips in TeX Live 2009 and earlier, and teTeX, allows remote… CVSS 2.0MEDIUM 6.8
  • TI-2010-01394 Multiple integer overflows in dvipsk/dospecial.c in dvips in TeX Live 2009 and earlier… CVSS 2.0MEDIUM 6.8
See all 7 →

Sources