# CVE-2013-4788: Memory corruption in n/a

> Attackers can bypass pointer mangling protections in glibc to facilitate code execution via buffer overflows by exploiting uninitialized pointer guards.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.1 (`AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Not stated
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 4 Oct 2013
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2013-4788, GHSA-xh2f-h76w-4qqc

## What is CVE-2013-4788?

CVE-2013-4788 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Gnu Glibc, published on 4 Oct 2013. 

### Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-4788?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Gnu Eglibc, Gnu Glibc.

## How do I fix CVE-2013-4788?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2013-4788 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-4788 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- glibc and eglibc 2.5/2.7/2.13 - Local Buffer Overflow (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Gnu Glibc

- [CVE-2011-2702](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2702/): Integer overflow in n/a (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2011-1071](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-1071/): Denial of service in n/a (medium 5.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2013-4788 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2013-4788 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Gnu Glibc, published on 4 Oct 2013. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-4788 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Gnu Glibc. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4788/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4788/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-4788
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-4788
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-4788

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-4788/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.