#VU109671 NULL pointer dereference in Binutils - CVE-2018-18606

Vulnerability identifier: #VU109671

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 4 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-18606

CWE-ID: CWE-476

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 attacker to crash the application.

The vulnerability exists due to NULL pointer dereference within the merge_strings() function in merge.c. A remote attacker can trick the victim into processing a specially crafted file and crash the application.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Binutils: 2.7 - 2.31

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External links
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190307-0003/
https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=23806
https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git;h=45a0eaf77022963d639d6d19871dbab7b79703fc
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4336-1/

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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.