CVE-2026-57166: PJSIP: Pre-authentication overflow in the telnet CLI error
PJSIP is a free and open source multimedia communication library written in C. Prior to commit 4472a31, a stack buffer overflow exists in the PJLIB-UTIL telnet CLI front-end when rendering feedback for an entered command line. Several command-line handling paths write an attacker-influenced amount of data into fixed-size buffers without sufficient bounds checking, so a long command line can overflow them. This affects only applications that enable the telnet CLI front-end (e.g. pjclitelnetcreate() / --cli-telnet-port). The telnet CLI is an interactive administration interface with no authentication, so any client able to reach it can already issue arbitrary CLI commands. A malformed or overly long command line can overflow a fixed-size stack buffer while rendering command-line feedback, which may lead to application termination. Because reaching this code already requires access to the unauthenticated CLI, the impact beyond that existing access is limited. Applications that do not enable the telnet CLI front-end are not affected. This issue has been patched via commit 4472a31.
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
PJSIPto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Patch commit 4472a31
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Which deployments are affected?
Only applications that enable the PJLIB-UTIL telnet CLI front-end, such as through pj_cli_telnet_create() or --cli-telnet-port, are affected. Applications that do not enable this front-end are not affected.
What access does an attacker need?
An attacker must be able to connect to the telnet CLI. This interface has no authentication, so any reachable client can issue CLI commands and submit a malformed or overly long command line.
What is the likely impact of exploitation?
The overflow occurs while rendering command-line feedback and may terminate the application. Impact beyond the access already provided by the unauthenticated CLI is described as limited.
How can this be remediated or mitigated?
Apply the patch in commit 4472a31. If patching cannot happen immediately, disable the telnet CLI front-end or restrict network reachability to it.