Uvnc: community verdicts

UltraVNC viewer through 1.8.2.2 contains an integer overflow leading to a heap buffer overflow in the RFB protocol failure-response parsing path. In vncviewer/ClientConnection.cpp, the 4-byte network-supplied reasonLen field (type CARD32) is passed as reasonLen+1 to CheckBufferSize(). Because both operands are unsigned 32-bit, a reasonLen of 0xFFFFFFFF overflows to 0, causing CheckBufferSize to allocate only 256 bytes. The subsequent ReadString(m_netbuf, reasonLen) call then performs ReadExact for the original 4 GiB length into that 256-byte heap buffer. This overflow is reachable via rfbConnFailed (auth-scheme negotiation) and rfbVncAuthFailed (post-handshake) message types without successful authentication. A malicious VNC server, or any man-in-the-middle on the RFB stream, can trigger this condition when the victim viewer connects, potentially resulting in remote code execution as the user running the viewer. The crash was confirmed with AddressSanitizer on a portable reproduction harness (heap-buffer-overflow WRITE at offset 256).

UltraVNC repeater through 1.8.2.2 contains an integer overflow in the HTTP request logging path. In repeater/webgui/settings.c:336, the win_log() function allocates list nodes via malloc(sizeof(struct LIST) + strlen(line)), where line is derived from HTTP request URIs. If strlen(line) is sufficiently large, the addition overflows to a value smaller than sizeof(struct LIST), causing a heap allocation smaller than required. The subsequent strcpy of the full string into the undersized allocation produces a heap buffer overflow. In the current implementation this overflow is bounded by the HTTP receive buffer size (WI_RXBUFSIZE = 153600 bytes, well below SIZE_MAX on 32-bit builds), limiting practical exploitability to a partial heap write. A remote unauthenticated attacker can trigger the theoretical overflow path by sending a maximally-sized URI in an HTTP request to the repeater HTTP port.

UltraVNC repeater through 1.8.2.2 contains a post-authentication out-of-bounds write in the allow/deny rule parser. In repeater/webgui/settings.c:225-272, after strncpy_s copies a rule token into temp1[rule1] (25-byte destination) or temp2/temp3 (16-byte destination), the code unconditionally writes a NUL terminator at temp1[rule1][len] = 0 without clamping len to the destination size. When an authenticated administrator saves a rule with a token length equal to or greater than the destination size, the NUL byte is written one or more bytes past the end of the stack-allocated array, corrupting adjacent stack data. An attacker who has obtained admin credentials (including via CVE-2026-7839 default password) can trigger this to gain code execution on the repeater host.

UltraVNC viewer through 1.8.2.2 contains an off-by-one stack buffer overflow in the RFB ServerInit message handler. In vncviewer/ClientConnection.cpp, when the server-supplied nameLength equals exactly 2024 the code declares a 2024-byte stack buffer _dn[2024] and calls ReadString(_dn, 2024). ReadString writes the NUL terminator at buf[length], i.e., _dn[2024], one byte past the end of the stack buffer. A malicious VNC server can trigger this condition by advertising a desktop name of length 2024 in its ServerInit message. On release builds without stack canaries the single-byte NUL overwrite adjacent stack data. On builds with /GS stack protection the canary is corrupted and the process terminates, resulting in denial of service. User interaction (connecting the viewer to the malicious server) is required.

UltraVNC repeater through 1.8.2.2 initializes the HTTP administration server with a hardcoded default password. In repeater/webgui/settings.c:197, when settings2.txt is absent on first run the repeater writes the literal string "adminadmi2" as the admin password via strcpy_s(saved_password, 64, "adminadmi2"). The HTTP Basic-auth handler wi_decode_auth() checks this password without rate-limiting or lockout. Any remote attacker who can reach the repeater HTTP port (default TCP 80) can authenticate as administrator using the well-known default credential on a fresh or unmodified installation, gaining full control of the repeater configuration including allow/deny rules and session visibility.

UltraVNC repeater through 1.8.2.2 contains an off-by-one error in the Base64 decode helper used for HTTP Basic authentication. In repeater/webgui/webutils.c:817, the wi_uudecode() function checks whether the input length exceeds the output buffer with a strict greater-than comparison (>), while the correct check should be greater-than-or-equal (>=). When strlen(authdata) equals sizeof(decode), the decoded output length (approximately 3/4 of input) does not overflow the buffer in current practice because the outer HTTP request bounds constrain the Authorization header. However, the defective check leaves a latent off-by-one condition that could become exploitable if the buffering constraints change. The current risk is limited to a one-byte write at the boundary of a 1024-byte stack buffer under constrained conditions.

UltraVNC through 1.8.2.2 contains an out-of-bounds read in the wide-string to multibyte conversion helper. In rfb/dh.cpp:204, the vncWc2Mb() function passes a caller-supplied WCHAR pointer to wcslen() before any bounds check. If the caller provides a wide-character buffer that is not properly NUL-terminated, wcslen() reads past the end of the buffer until it encounters a NUL wchar, resulting in an out-of-bounds read. Under typical Win32 API usage this requires an abnormal caller contract. Impact is limited to a potential information disclosure from adjacent memory regions or a process crash (denial of service) if the over-read crosses a page boundary.

UltraVNC through 1.8.2.2 uses a cryptographically weak pseudo-random number generator to produce VNC authentication challenge bytes. In rfb/vncauth.c:119-129, the vncRandomBytes() function seeds libc rand() with time(0) + getpid() + rand() and generates a 16-byte challenge. The combined seed space is approximately 31 bits (libc rand() internal state) and is entirely determined by publicly-observable values (wall-clock time and process ID). An attacker who can observe the authentication exchange can enumerate the seed space and predict the challenge within seconds, enabling forgery or offline brute-forcing of responses. Note: on Windows, the active code path may use vncEncryptBytes2.cpp which calls CryptGenRandom; reachability on shipped Windows binaries requires compile-graph verification and is under investigation.

UltraVNC through 1.8.2.2 uses inadequate cryptography in the MS-Logon II authentication scheme (rfbUltraVNC_MsLogonIIAuth). In rfb/dh.cpp the Diffie-Hellman key exchange is performed with parameters that fit in an unsigned 64-bit integer (DH_MAX_BITS controls the prime size). A 64-bit DH key can be broken by Pollard's rho algorithm in under one second on current hardware. Additionally, the private exponent is generated by the rng() function, which multiplies three libc rand() values seeded from time(NULL). With approximately 31 bits of internal state and a time-based seed, the private exponent is recoverable in under a minute by a passive observer. A network attacker who can observe the MS-Logon II handshake (via sniffing, recording, or man-in-the-middle) can derive the shared DH key and decrypt the encapsulated username and password, resulting in full credential disclosure. This affects legacy MS-Logon II connections; MS-Logon III (X25519 + AES-256-GCM) is unaffected.