Vulnerability Monitor

The vendors, products, and vulnerabilities you care about

CVE-2018-7642

The swap_std_reloc_in function in aoutx.h in the Binary File Descriptor (BFD) library (aka libbfd), as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.30, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (aout_32_swap_std_reloc_out NULL pointer dereference and application crash) via a crafted ELF file, as demonstrated by objcopy.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity though user interaction is required and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 4 products from gnu, from redhat, from redhat and 1 other, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

First disclosed in 2018, this vulnerability was reported during a period defined by widespread IoT adoption challenges, mobile security concerns, and the emergence of advanced persistent threat (APT) techniques. Contemporary mitigation strategies focused on secure development practices and third-party component vetting.

Published

2018-03-02T15:29:00.447

Last Modified

2024-11-21T04:12:27.760

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.0: 5.5 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: MEDIUM
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: NONE
Integrity Impact: NONE
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

8.6

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-476

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	gnu	binutils	2.30	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_desktop	7.0	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_server	7.0	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_workstation	7.0	Yes

References

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-10/msg00072.html ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00008.html ([email protected])
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2019:0327 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3032 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201811-17 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=22887 Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git%3Bh=116acb2c268c89c89186673a7c92620d21825b25 ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-10/msg00072.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-11/msg00008.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2019:0327 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3032 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201811-17 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=22887 Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://sourceware.org/git/gitweb.cgi?p=binutils-gdb.git%3Bh=116acb2c268c89c89186673a7c92620d21825b25 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For gnu's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.