Information disclosure via uninitialized scan buffer
Published Oct 19, 2021 · Updated Jul 9, 2026
Use of an uninitialized value in Synchronet BBS allows remote attackers to disclose process-memory data through message scans. scanallsubs leaves its 256-byte str array uninitialized on branches that do not call getstr, then passes it to scanposts, which formats the stale bytes into a module command line. No authentication or user interaction is required, and the documented consequence is confidentiality loss rather than data modification or service interruption.
Summary
What happened
Use of an uninitialized value in Synchronet BBS allows remote attackers to disclose process-memory data through message scans. scanallsubs leaves its 256-byte str array uninitialized on branches that do not call getstr, then passes it to scanposts, which formats the stale bytes into a module command line. No authentication or user interaction is required, and the documented consequence is confidentiality loss rather than data modification or service interruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-36512
- Published
- Oct 19, 2021
- Updated
- Jul 9, 2026
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-908, T1190
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 19, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jul 9, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
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What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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