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Ubuntu 20.04 LTS ncurses Critical DoS Vulnerability USN-8503-1

ubuntu
Calendar Grey July 6, 2026
Dist Ubuntu Esm H88
A serious ncurses bug could lead to a denial of service on multiple Ubuntu versions. Immediate updates recommended.
ncurses could be made to crash if it opened a specially crafted file.

Summary

ncurses could be made to crash if it opened a specially crafted

file.

Software Description:

- ncurses: shared libraries for terminal handling

Details:

It was discovered that ncurses incorrectly handled certain terminfo

entries in the infocmp tool. An attacker could possibly use this issue

to cause a denial of service via a crafted terminfo file.

The default compiler options for affected releases should reduce the

vulnerability to a denial of service.

Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

security advisory denial of service critical ncurses Ubuntu

Update Instructions

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following
package versions:

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
  ncurses-bin                     6.2-0ubuntu2.1+esm1
                                  Available with Ubuntu Pro

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
  ncurses-bin                     6.1-1ubuntu1.18.04.1+esm3
                                  Available with Ubuntu Pro

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
  ncurses-bin                     6.0+20160213-1ubuntu1+esm6
                                  Available with Ubuntu Pro

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
  ncurses-bin                     5.9+20140118-1ubuntu1+esm6
                                  Available with Ubuntu Pro

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

References

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8503-1

CVE-2025-69720

Severity
critical
Lowest
Low
Medium
High
Critical

Ubuntu Security Notice USN-8503-1

Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

security advisory denial of service critical ncurses Ubuntu

Package Information

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