CVE-2017-2640

An out-of-bounds write flaw was found in the way Pidgin before 2.12.0 processed XML content. A malicious remote server could potentially use this flaw to crash Pidgin or execute arbitrary code in the context of the pidgin process.

Published: 2018-07-27 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2017-2640 is rated Moderate Risk (62.2/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 6.26%, 93th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. 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.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2017-2640

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 2026-06-17 6.51% 6.26% -0.25%
2 2026-06-15 0.79% 6.51% +5.72%
3 2026-05-25 — 0.79% —

Full EPSS history (19 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2017-2640

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.6 5.9 [email protected]
9.8 3.0 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2017-2640

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-2640

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2017-2640 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (pidgin), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2017-2640
gentoo normal CVE-2017-2640: 1 GLSA(s) (201706-10), 1 atom(s) (net-im/pidgin); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2017-2640
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-2640
suse high CVE-2017-2640 severity important: SUSE including 90 source package names (finch, finch-2.10.11-5.el7, …), 176 product×package rows across 22 product lines (SUSE Liberty Linux 7, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP3, … (22 product lines)): Fixed 131, Known Not Affected 45. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-2640/
ubuntu medium CVE-2017-2640 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (pidgin), 5 status rows across 5 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety): released 5. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-2640

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-2640

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
pidgin pidgin < 2.12.0 cpe:2.3:a:pidgin:pidgin:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.5 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2017-2640

cvelogic Threat Intelligence