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CVE-2022-46663

25
FAUCET Score

CVE-2022-46663 describes a vulnerability in GNU Less versions prior to 609, where specially crafted data can bypass ANSI escape sequence filtering when using the "less -R" command, affecting products like Fedora and GNU Less. This is a high-severity vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) with a network attack vector and low attack complexity, potentially leading to a denial of service. While there is no known active exploitation or public exploit code (Metasploit, Nuclei, ExploitDB), it has garnered some community discussion and media coverage, indicating awareness of the issue.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
>= 566, < 609CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:gnu:less:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
37CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:37:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.1

7.5HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
NONE
Integrity Impact
NONE
Availability Impact
HIGH
Exploitability Score
3.9
Impact Score
3.6
CvssVersion
3.1

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
1.41%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
69.9%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-27
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0141 is in the 51st percentile among its peer group of 51,506 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.0 Reddit, 0.1 Bluesky, 0.1 Mastodon, and 0.4 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.1 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Patch Available

Vendor Patches (10)

github_advisorypatch availablevia nvd_reference
View patch
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: less-590-2.cm2.x86_64.rpm on CBL Mariner 2.0 x64Fixed in: -
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: less-debuginfo-590-2.cm2.x86_64.rpm on CBL Mariner 2.0 x64Fixed in: -
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: less-590-2.cm2.aarch64.rpm on CBL Mariner 2.0 ARMFixed in: -
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: less-debuginfo-590-2.cm2.aarch64.rpm on CBL Mariner 2.0 ARMFixed in: -
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: 12686-12139Fixed in: -
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: 12687-12139Fixed in: -
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: 12688-12140Fixed in: -
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: 12689-12140Fixed in: -
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9Fixed in: less-0:590-2.el9_2
View patch

Vendor Advisories (2)

microsoft2023-Feb/CVE-2022-46663

In GNU Less before 609 crafted data can result in "less -R" not filtering ANSI escape sequences sent to the terminal.

Feb 14, 2023
redhatCVE-2022-46663Moderate

less: crafted data can result in "less -R" not filtering ANSI escape sequences sent to the terminal

Feb 7, 2023

References

github.com / gwsw/less/commit/a78e1351113cef564d790a730d657a321624d79c
Patch
lists.fedoraproject.org / archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/LR7AUWB34JD4PCW3HHASBEDGGHFWPAQP
security.gentoo.org / glsa/202310-11
Third Party Advisory
openwall.com / lists/oss-security/2023/02/07/7
Mailing ListPatchThird Party Advisory
greenwoodsoftware.com / less/news.609.html
Broken Link
openwall.com / lists/oss-security/2023/02/07/7
Mailing ListThird Party Advisory