# CVE-2018-0488: Memory corruption in ARM mbed TLS before 1.3.22, before 2.1.10, and before 2.7.0

> Remote attackers can execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via heap corruption in mbed TLS when truncated HMAC and CBC are enabled.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 13 Feb 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2018-0488, DEBIAN-CVE-2018-0488, GHSA-v4fr-5r8j-m454, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-0488

## What is CVE-2018-0488?

CVE-2018-0488 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Arm Mbed Tls, published on 13 Feb 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

ARM mbed TLS before 1.3.22, before 2.1.10, and before 2.7.0, when the truncated HMAC extension and CBC are used, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (heap corruption) via a crafted application packet within a TLS or DTLS session.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-0488?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Arm Mbed Tls, Debian Debian Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-0488?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2018-0488 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-0488 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Arm Mbed Tls

- [CVE-2026-34877](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-34877/): Deserialization in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-46393](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-46393/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-44732](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-44732/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-18187](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-18187/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-0487](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0487/): Memory corruption in ARM mbed TLS before 1.3.22, before 2.1.10, and before 2.7.0 (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-0488 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-0488 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Arm Mbed Tls, published on 13 Feb 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-2018-0488 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Arm Mbed Tls. 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-2018-0488/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0488/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-0488
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-0488
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-0488

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0488/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.