#VU36733 Double Free in elfutils - CVE-2018-16402

Vulnerability identifier: #VU36733

Vulnerability risk: High

CVSSv4.0: 8.1 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Amber]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-16402

CWE-ID: CWE-415

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

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

Vendor: Sourceware

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote non-authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code.

libelf/elf_end.c in elfutils 0.173 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (double free and application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact because it tries to decompress twice.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

elfutils: 0.173

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External links
https://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-06/msg00052.html
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2197
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r1b103833cb5bc8466e24ff0ecc5e75b45a705334ab6a444e64e840a0@%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E
https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=23528
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4012-1/

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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.