CVE-2003-0466

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

This critical-severity CVE scores 9.8 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 78.1%, top 0% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).

Triggered by: NVD CVSS baseline
Sources: epss, nvd
Weaponized
9.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch this weekExploitation is likely or a public exploit exists.
  • High exploitation likelihood — EPSS 78%
  • Public exploit code is available (Exploit-DB (verified), epss top5pct, epss high, public exploit)
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 78%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: Exploit-DB (verified) · epss top5pct · epss high · public exploitExposed: 0

A fix is available — apply it.

Off-by-one error in the fb_realpath() function, as derived from the realpath function in BSD, may allow attackers to execute arbitrary code, as demonstrated in wu-ftpd 2.5.0 through 2.6.2 via commands that cause pathnames of length MAXPATHLEN+1 to trigger a buffer overflow, including (1) STOR, (2) RETR, (3) APPE, (4) DELE, (5) MKD, (6) RMD, (7) STOU, or (8) RNTO.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(medium)
EG Risk
80(Track*)
EG Risk 80/100SSVC: Track*

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity98% × 45%
Exploitation78% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Watch closely — could escalate to Attend.
EPSS PROB
78%
EPSS %ILE
100%
KEV
Not listed

Published

August 27, 2003

Last Modified

June 16, 2026

Advisory Details (7)

Auto-updated Aug 19, 2026
No patch confirmed yet.
generic

'Off-by-one Buffer Overflow Vulnerability in BSD libc realpath(3)' - MARC

http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=106002488209129&w=2
generic

'wu-ftpd-2.6.2 off-by-one remote exploit.' - MARC

http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=106001702232325&w=2
generic

'FreeBSD Security Advisory FreeBSD-SA-03:08.realpath' - MARC

http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=106001410028809&w=2
generic

'wu-ftpd fb_realpath() off-by-one bug' - MARC

http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=105967301604815&w=2
generic
http://isec.pl/vulnerabilities/isec-0011-wu-ftpd.txt
generic

About Secunia Research | Flexera

http://secunia.com/advisories/9446
generic

About Secunia Research | Flexera

http://secunia.com/advisories/9423

Patch Availability(2)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
redhatpatch2003-07-31redhat
redhatpatch2003-07-31redhat

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

Affected Packages

(1 across 1 ecosystem)
Debian:3.0(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
wu-ftpd—2.6.2-3woody1—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

All Vendor Advisories

(2)

Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 0× in last 7d / 5× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-24 14:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-23 00:45 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-07-23 00:26 UTCEG score recompute
  4. 2026-07-22 23:49 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-07-22 21:30 UTCEG score recompute
  6. 2026-07-20 17:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-11 08:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-11 08:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-08 15:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-02 14:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-29 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-29 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-28 04:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-23 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-16 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-16 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-15 17:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-13 22:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-10 22:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-07 15:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 32 more
  1. 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-06-05 22:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-05 22:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-05-20 22:36 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-05-20 07:56 UTCVendor advisory
  15. 2026-05-20 07:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-05-20 03:39 UTCVendor advisory
  17. 2026-05-20 03:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-05-19 23:26 UTCVendor advisory
  19. 2026-05-19 23:26 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-05-19 19:11 UTCVendor advisory
  21. 2026-05-19 19:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-05-19 14:57 UTCVendor advisory
  23. 2026-05-19 14:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-05-19 10:38 UTCVendor advisory
  25. 2026-05-19 10:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  26. 2026-05-19 06:14 UTCVendor advisory
  27. 2026-05-19 06:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  28. 2026-05-19 02:01 UTCEG score recompute
  29. 2026-05-19 02:01 UTCVendor advisory
  30. 2026-05-19 02:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  31. 2026-05-18 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-05-18 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore

Publicly available exploits

(5 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (5 Exploit-DB entries). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Exploit-DBEDB-78✓ verified
    First seen Aug 11, 2003

    WU-FTPD 2.6.2 - Remote Command Execution

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-22975✓ verified
    First seen Aug 6, 2003

    WU-FTPD 2.6.0/2.6.1/2.6.2 - 'realpath()' Off-by-One Buffer Overflow

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-74✓ verified
    First seen Aug 3, 2003

    WU-FTPD 2.6.2 - Off-by-One Remote Command Execution

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-22974✓ verified
    First seen Aug 2, 2003

    WU-FTPD 2.6.2 - 'realpath()' Off-by-One Buffer Overflow

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-22976✓ verified
    First seen Jul 31, 2003

    FreeBSD 4.8 - 'realpath()' Off-by-One Buffer Overflow

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same vendor + same CWE)

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2003-0466?
CVE-2003-0466 is a critical vulnerability published on August 27, 2003. Off-by-one error in the fb_realpath() function, as derived from the realpath function in BSD, may allow attackers to execute arbitrary code, as demonstrated in wu-ftpd 2.5.0 through 2.6.2 via commands that cause pathnames of length MAXPATHLEN+1 to trigger a buffer overflow, including (1) STOR, (2)…
When was CVE-2003-0466 disclosed?
CVE-2003-0466 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on August 27, 2003, with the most recent update on June 16, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2003-0466 actively exploited?
CVE-2003-0466 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 78% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 0.5% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2003-0466?
CVE-2003-0466 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2003-0466?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2003-0466, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2003-0466

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