#VU38002 Buffer overflow in Binutils - CVE-2017-15996

Vulnerability identifier: #VU38002

Vulnerability risk: High

CVSSv4.0: 6.1 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Amber]

CVE-ID: CVE-2017-15996

CWE-ID: CWE-119

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 non-authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code.

elfcomm.c in readelf in GNU Binutils 2.29 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (excessive memory allocation) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted ELF file that triggers a "buffer overflow on fuzzed archive header," related to an uninitialized variable, an improper conditional jump, and the get_archive_member_name, process_archive_index_and_symbols, and setup_archive functions.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Binutils: 2.29

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External links
https://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101608
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201801-01
https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=22361
https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;h=d91f0b20e561e326ee91a09a76206257bde8438b

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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.