# CVE-2018-1125: Memory corruption in procps-ng, procps

> A stack buffer overflow in pgrep allows attackers to cause a crash or potentially execute code, primarily affecting Linux system utilities.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.4 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 May 2018
- **Updated:** 17 Dec 2025
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2018-1125, GHSA-jpw5-97m6-c8m2, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-1125

## What is CVE-2018-1125?

CVE-2018-1125 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 23 May 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

procps-ng before version 3.3.15 is vulnerable to a stack buffer overflow in pgrep. This vulnerability is mitigated by FORTIFY, as it involves strncat() to a stack-allocated string. When pgrep is compiled with FORTIFY (as on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora), the impact is limited to a crash.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-121 (Stack-based Buffer Overflow)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-1125?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Opensuse Leap, Procps-Ng Project Procps-Ng.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-1125?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2018-1125 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-1125 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2020-11651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11651/): SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-7247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7247/): OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-16928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16928/): Exim Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-6789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6789/): Exim Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-2590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2590/): Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-1125 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-1125 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 23 May 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-1125 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux. 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-2018-1125/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1125/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-1125
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-1125
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-1125

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1125/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.