What this actually is.
Technical background, root cause, and affected surface.
Netatalk 3.1.2 through 4.4.2 is compiled without FORTIFY_SOURCE, which disables built-in buffer overflow detection at runtime, potentially allowing a remote attacker to cause a minor denial of service via memory errors that would otherwise be caught and safely terminated by runtime protection.
- Vendor
- Netatalk
- Product
- Netatalk
- Severity
- Low
- CVSS Score
- 3.7
- Status
- Published
- CWE
- CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure
- Vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
From one request
to root shell.
Reproduced in a sandboxed environment. Requires only LAN or WiFi adjacency.
The bug, and the fix.
CMakeLists.txt / configure.ac: -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 compilation flag absent from build configuration
Root cause: Build system configuration omits the -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 compiler definition
When does this fire?
All conditions must be true for the exploit to succeed.
Any deployment of official Netatalk 3.1.2-4.4.2 binaries; self-compiled without explicit FORTIFY_SOURCE flag
What an attacker does to you.
Post-exploitation outcomes mapped to CVSS impact metrics.
Removal of runtime detection for buffer overflows; makes exploitation of other Netatalk memory corruption CVEs more reliable
C:N · I:N · A:L
CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure
Fix it. In this order.
A runbook, not a checklist. Sequence matters — assume compromise before you act.
Upgrade to Netatalk 4.4.3 which restores FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 in the build system. If building from source, add -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 to CFLAGS.
disclose@securin.ioVendors moved in days.
Attackers in hours.
Reconstructed from vendor advisories, CISA bulletins, and Securin research records.
Vendor notified
Netatalk 4.4.3 patch released
CVE published to MITRE
Disclosed 60 days after discovery
Cite, verify, go deeper.
Primary sources — NVD, CISA KEV, and machine-readable IoC feed.