diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libssh2/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libssh2/default.nix
index d4205981499c..365c836c9fdb 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libssh2/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libssh2/default.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [ openssl zlib ]
     ++ stdenv.lib.optional stdenv.hostPlatform.isMinGW windows.mingw_w64;
 
+  patches = [
+    # not able to use fetchpatch here: infinite recursion
+    (fetchurl {
+      name = "CVE-2019-17498.patch";
+      url = "https://github.com/libssh2/libssh2/pull/402.patch";
+      sha256 = "1n9s2mcz5dkw0xpm3c5x4hzj8bar4i6z0pr1rmqjplhfg888vdvc";
+    })
+  ];
+
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "A client-side C library implementing the SSH2 protocol";
     homepage = https://www.libssh2.org;