CVE-2023-30844

Mutagen list and monitor operations do not neutralize control characters in text controlled by remote endpoints

HIGH
8.8
CVSS Score
Published: May 8, 2023 at 05:54 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 05:55 AM UTC
3 products affected across 2 vendorsMutagen ComposeMutagenMutagen

Using mutagen by mutagen-io?

Get instant alerts when new vulnerabilities affect mutagen - before attackers find them.

Real-time alertsTrack your software stackFree plan available
Severity
HIGH8.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.7%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

Mutagen provides real-time file synchronization and flexible network forwarding for developers. Prior to versions 0.16.6 and 0.17.1 in `mutagen` and prior to version 0.17.1 in `mutagen-compose`, Mutagen `list` and `monitor` commands are susceptible to control characters that could be provided by remote endpoints. This could cause terminal corruption, either intentional or unintentional, if these characters were present in error messages or file paths/names. This could be used as an attack vector if synchronizing with an untrusted remote endpoint, synchronizing files not under control of the user, or forwarding to/from an untrusted remote endpoint. On very old systems with terminals susceptible to issues such as CVE-2003-0069, the issue could theoretically cause code execution. The problem has been patched in Mutagen v0.16.6 and v0.17.1. Earlier versions of Mutagen are no longer supported and will not be patched. Versions of Mutagen after v0.18.0 will also have the patch merged. As a workaround, avoiding synchronization of untrusted files or interaction with untrusted remote endpoints should mitigate any risk.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 0.16.60.17.0
Affected range stops below 0.16.6, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
v < 0.17.1
Affected range stops below 0.17.1, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
v < 0.16.6v < 0.17.1
Affected range stops below 0.16.6, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 0.17.1, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-150CWE-116

Get alerted

Stop reading CVE feeds looking for your own stack

Track the products you run and VulnTracker tells you when a new CVE affects them — with what is known about fixing it, and nothing about the rest.

Free plan, no card