Out-of-bounds Read in Gnu Binutils

CVE-2018-18605

A heap-based buffer over-read issue was discovered in the function sec_merge_hash_lookup in merge.c in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.31, because _bfd_add_merge_section mishandles section merges when size is not a multiple of entsize. A specially crafted ELF allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service, as demonstrated by ld.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

EPSS: 0.023 (81.7th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-18605?
CVE-2018-18605 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Gnu Binutils, classified under Out-of-bounds Read. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2018-10-23.
How severe is CVE-2018-18605?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2018-18605 known to be exploited?
2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.