# CVE-2017-14502: Memory corruption in n/a

> An off-by-one error in libarchive's RAR parser allows out-of-bounds reads, potentially causing crashes or information disclosure.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 17 Sep 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALEA-2021:1580, ALPINE-CVE-2017-14502, DEBIAN-CVE-2017-14502, GHSA-w2pg-4hrq-9q8x, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-14502

## What is CVE-2017-14502?

CVE-2017-14502 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Libarchive Libarchive, published on 17 Sep 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

read_header in archive_read_support_format_rar.c in libarchive 3.3.2 suffers from an off-by-one error for UTF-16 names in RAR archives, leading to an out-of-bounds read in archive_read_format_rar_read_header.

Weakness: CWE-193 (Off-by-one Error), CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-14502?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `libarchive-devel` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 3.3.3-1.el8 |

Products: Libarchive Libarchive.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-14502?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2017-14502 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-14502 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Libarchive Libarchive

- [CVE-2024-37407](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-37407/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2016-1541](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-1541/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2016-6250](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6250/): Integer overflow in n/a (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2025-5914](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-5914/): Libarchive: double free at archive_read_format_rar_seek_data() in archive_read_support_format_rar.c (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2024-48957](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-48957/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-14502 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-14502 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Libarchive Libarchive, published on 17 Sep 2017. 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-2017-14502 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Libarchive Libarchive. 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-2017-14502/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-14502/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-14502
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-14502
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-14502

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-14502/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.