Input validation error in GNU C Library (glibc) - CVE-2013-4788

Vulnerability details

The vulnerability allows a remote non-authenticated attacker to read and manipulate data.

The PTR_MANGLE implementation in the GNU C Library (aka glibc or libc6) 2.4, 2.17, and earlier, and Embedded GLIBC (EGLIBC) does not initialize the random value for the pointer guard, which makes it easier for context-dependent attackers to control execution flow by leveraging a buffer-overflow vulnerability in an application and using the known zero value pointer guard to calculate a pointer address. Additional information that was taken into consideration while scoring: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=985625

Affected software

How to mitigate CVE-2013-4788

Links to Public Exploits and PoC-codes

• Exploit #11449 - glibc and eglibc 2.5/2.7/2.13 - Buffer Overflow (June 3, 2025)

External References

• http://hmarco.org/bugs/CVE-2013-4788.html
• http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2015/Sep/23
• http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:283
• http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2013:284
• http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/07/15/9
• http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/61183
• https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201503-04

Related Security Bulletins

• Input validation error in Glibc
• Gentoo update for GNU C Library
• Slackware Linux update for glibc