CVE-2018-7642

binutils: NULL pointer dereference in swap_std_reloc_in function in aoutx.h resulting in crash

Severity Score

5.5

*CVSS v3

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

*KEV

Decision

*SSVC

Descriptions

The swap_std_reloc_in function in aoutx.h in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.30, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (aout_32_swap_std_reloc_out NULL pointer dereference and application crash) via a crafted ELF file, as demonstrated by objcopy.

La funcíon swap_std_reloc_in en aoutx.h en la biblioteca Binary File Descriptor (BFD), conocida como libbfd, tal y como se distribuye en GNU Binutils 2.30 y anteriores permite que atacantes remotos provoquen una denegación de servicio (desreferencia de puntero NULL en aout_32_swap_std_reloc_out y cierre inesperado de la aplicación) mediante un archivo ELF manipulado, tal y como demuestra objcopy.

USN-4336-1 fixed several vulnerabilities in GNU binutils. This update provides the corresponding update for Ubuntu 16.04 ESM. It was discovered that GNU binutils contained a large number of security issues. If a user or automated system were tricked into processing a specially-crafted file, a remote attacker could cause GNU binutils to crash, resulting in a denial of service, or possibly execute arbitrary code. Various other issues were also addressed.

*Credits: N/A

CVSS Scores

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

Low

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Medium

Authentication

None

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

Partial

* Common Vulnerability Scoring System

SSVC

Decision:-

Exploitation

Automatable

Tech. Impact

* Organization's Worst-case Scenario

Timeline

2018-03-02 CVE Reserved
2018-03-02 CVE Published
2024-08-05 CVE Updated
2025-03-30 EPSS Updated
---------- Exploited in Wild
---------- KEV Due Date
---------- First Exploit

CWE

CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference

CAPEC

References (9)

URL	Tag	Source
https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=22887	Issue Tracking
https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git%3Bh=116acb2c268c89c89186673a7c92620d21825b25	X_refsource_misc

URL	Date	SRC

URL	Date	SRC

URL	Date	SRC
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-10/msg00072.html	2023-11-07
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00008.html	2023-11-07
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2019:0327	2023-11-07
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3032	2023-11-07
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201811-17	2023-11-07
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-7642	2018-10-30
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1553115	2018-10-30

Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions

Vendor		Product				Version		Other		Status
Vendor	Product	Version	Other	Status	<-- -->	Vendor	Product	Version	Other	Status
Gnu Search vendor "Gnu"		Binutils Search vendor "Gnu" for product "Binutils"				2.30 Search vendor "Gnu" for product "Binutils" and version "2.30"		-		Affected
Redhat Search vendor "Redhat"		Enterprise Linux Desktop Search vendor "Redhat" for product "Enterprise Linux Desktop"				7.0 Search vendor "Redhat" for product "Enterprise Linux Desktop" and version "7.0"		-		Affected
Redhat Search vendor "Redhat"		Enterprise Linux Server Search vendor "Redhat" for product "Enterprise Linux Server"				7.0 Search vendor "Redhat" for product "Enterprise Linux Server" and version "7.0"		-		Affected
Redhat Search vendor "Redhat"		Enterprise Linux Workstation Search vendor "Redhat" for product "Enterprise Linux Workstation"				7.0 Search vendor "Redhat" for product "Enterprise Linux Workstation" and version "7.0"		-		Affected