whoami stack buffer overflow on several Unix platforms
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Fixed
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from GitHub.
Summary
With versions of the whoami crate >= 0.5.3 and < 1.5.0, calling any of these functions leads to an immediate stack buffer overflow on illumos and Solaris: - `whoami::username` - `whoami::realname` - `whoami::username_os` - `whoami::realname_os` With versions of the whoami crate >= 0.5.3 and < 1.0.1, calling any of the above functions also leads to a stack buffer overflow on these platforms: - Bitrig - DragonFlyBSD - FreeBSD - NetBSD - OpenBSD This occurs because of an incorrect definition of the `passwd` struct on those platforms. As a result of this issue, denial of service and data corruption have both been observed in the wild. The issue is possibly exploitable as well. This vulnerability also affects other Unix platforms that aren't Linux or macOS. This issue has been addressed in whoami 1.5.0. For more information, see [this GitHub issue](https://github.com/ardaku/whoami/issues/91).
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | whoami (crates.io) | 0.5.3 to before 1.5.0 | 1.5.0 | Patch available | GHSA-w5w5-8vfh-xcjq |
- whoami (crates.io) Vendor— Affected 0.5.3 to before 1.5.0 Fixed in 1.5.0 Patch available GHSA-w5w5-8vfh-xcjq
Remediation
- Fix · GHSA-w5w5-8vfh-xcjq whoami (crates.io) Fixed in 1.5.0 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-03 Threatist record created from GHSA-w5w5-8vfh-xcjq
References
Sources
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