Format string vulnerability in the inputAnswer function in file.c in w3m before 0.5.2, when run with the dump or backend option, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via format string specifiers in the Common Name (CN) field of an SSL certificate associated with an https URL.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2006-6772 is rated High Risk (72.1/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 13.76%, 94th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +2.01% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.
Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.
EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).
| # | Date | Old EPSS score | New EPSS score | Delta (New - Old) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025-11-10 | 11.74% | 13.76% | +2.01% |
| 2 | 2025-08-15 | 11.34% | 11.74% | +0.40% |
| 3 | 2025-08-08 | — | 11.34% | — |
Full EPSS history (17 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.3 | 2.0 | HIGH |
|
8.6 | 10.0 | [email protected] |
| vendor | priority | summary | link |
|---|---|---|---|
alpine
|
— | CVE-2006-6772: no source package rows; 0 state rows across 0 repos (none); fixed 0, open 0. | https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2006-6772 |
debian
|
low | CVE-2006-6772 low priority: Debian including 1 source packages (w3m), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. | https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2006-6772 |
gentoo
|
normal | CVE-2006-6772: 1 GLSA(s) (200701-06), 1 atom(s) (www-client/w3m); latest impact normal. | https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2006-6772 |
redhat
|
— | — | https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2006-6772 |
suse
|
critical | — | https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2006-6772/ |
ubuntu
|
medium | CVE-2006-6772 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (w3m), 4 status rows across 4 suites (dapper, edgy, feisty, upstream): released 3, needs-triage 1. | https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2006-6772 |
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is not vulnerable to this issue as it contains a backported patch.