#VU15527 Divide by zero in elfutils - CVE-2018-18521

Vulnerability identifier: #VU15527

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 5.5 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-18521

CWE-ID: CWE-369

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
elfutils
Server applications / File servers (FTP/HTTP)

Vendor: Sourceware

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to due to improper handling of Executable and Linkable Format (ELF) files by the arlib_add_symbols function, as defined in the arlib.c source code file. A remote attacker can trick the victim into opening a specially crafted ELF file that submits malicious input, trigger a divide-by-zero condition and cause application to crash.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

elfutils: 0.174

---

External links
https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=23786
https://sourceware.org/ml/elfutils-devel/2018-q4/msg00055.html

---

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability. However, proof of concept for this vulnerability is available.