# CVE-2018-14622: Null dereference in libtirpc

> A remote attacker can crash RPC-based applications by exhausting file descriptors, causing a null-pointer dereference in libtirpc.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 30 Aug 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** CVE-2015-9265, DEBIAN-CVE-2018-14622, DLA-1487-1, GHSA-359h-vjp2-hp47, RHBA-2017:1991, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-14622

## What is CVE-2018-14622?

CVE-2018-14622 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 30 Aug 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A null-pointer dereference vulnerability was found in libtirpc before version 0.3.3-rc3. The return value of makefd_xprt() was not checked in all instances, which could lead to a crash when the server exhausted the maximum number of available file descriptors. A remote attacker could cause an rpc-based application to crash by flooding it with new connections.

Weakness: CWE-252 (Unchecked Return Value)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-14622?

It affects 8 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `libtirpc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:0.2.4-0.10.el7 |
| `libtirpc-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:0.2.4-0.10.el7 |
| `libtirpc-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:0.2.4-0.10.el7 |
| `libtirpc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:0.2.4-0.10.el7 |
| `libtirpc-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:0.2.4-0.10.el7 |
| `libtirpc-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:0.2.4-0.10.el7 |
| `libtirpc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:0.2.4-0.10.el7 |
| `libtirpc-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:0.2.4-0.10.el7 |
| `libtirpc-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:0.2.4-0.10.el7 |
| `libtirpc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:0.2.4-0.10.el7 |
| `libtirpc-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:0.2.4-0.10.el7 |
| `libtirpc-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:0.2.4-0.10.el7 |

Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Libtirpc Project Libtirpc, Redhat Enterprise Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-14622?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2018-14622 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-14622 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-2018-14622 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-14622 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 30 Aug 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-2018-14622 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-2018-14622/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-14622/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-14622
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-14622
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-14622

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-14622/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.