SB2019102701 - Buffer overflow in file utility

Description

This security bulletin contains information about 1 security vulnerability.

1) Heap-based buffer overflow (CVE-ID: CVE-2019-18218)

The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to a boundary error within the cdf_read_property_info() function in cdf.c in file due to improper restrictions of the number of CDF_VECTOR elements. A local user can place a specially crafted CDF (Composite Document File) file on the system, trick the victim into reading it with the affected software, trigger heap-based buffer overflow (4-byte out-of-bounds write) and execute arbitrary code on the target system with elevated privileges.

Remediation

Cybersecurity Help is not aware of any official remediation provided by the vendor.

References

• https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=16780
• https://github.com/file/file/commit/46a8443f76cec4b41ec736eca396984c74664f84
• https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/10/msg00032.html