#VU16809 NULL pointer dereference in Binutils - CVE-2018-20651

Vulnerability identifier: #VU16809

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 4.6 [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:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-20651

CWE-ID: CWE-476

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Binutils
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: GNU

Description

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

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error in elf_link_add_object_symbols in elflink.c in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd). A remote attacker can supply a specially crafted ELF file and perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Binutils: 2.31.1

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External links
https://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106440
https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=24041
https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;h=54025d5812ff100f5f0654eb7e1ffd50f2e37f5f

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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.