Buffer overflow in file utility

1) Heap-based buffer overflow

EUVDB-ID: #VU22303

Risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 6.7 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:U/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2019-18218

CWE-ID: CWE-122 - Heap-based Buffer Overflow

Exploit availability: No

Description

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.

Mitigation

Cybersecurity Help is currently unaware of any official solution to address this vulnerability.

Vulnerable software versions

file: 5.00 - 5.37

External links

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

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.