# CVE-2016-8618: Use after free in curl

> A double-free vulnerability in libcurl's curl_maprintf function on 32-bit systems allows attackers to cause denial of service or execute arbitrary code.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 31 Jul 2018
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2016-8618, CLEANSTART-2026-KM83938, CURL-CVE-2016-8618, DEBIAN-CVE-2016-8618, GHSA-36jj-p27h-fh24, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-8618

## What is CVE-2016-8618?

CVE-2016-8618 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Haxx Curl, published on 31 Jul 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The libcurl API function called `curl_maprintf()` before version 7.51.0 can be tricked into doing a double-free due to an unsafe `size_t` multiplication, on systems using 32 bit `size_t` variables.

Weakness: CWE-415 (Double Free), CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-8618?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Haxx Curl.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-8618?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2016-8618 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-8618 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Haxx Curl

- [CVE-2026-19931](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-19931/): Negotiate ambient user conn reuse (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-10536](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-10536/): HTTP/2 stream-dependency tree UAF (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-11856](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-11856/): cross-origin Digest auth state leak (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-8925](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-8925/): SASL double-free (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-9079](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-9079/): stale proxy password leak (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-8618 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-8618 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Haxx Curl, published on 31 Jul 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-8618 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Haxx Curl. 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-2016-8618/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8618/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-8618
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-8618
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-8618

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8618/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.