# CVE-2018-14638: Denial of service in 389-ds-base

> Remote attackers can crash the 389-ds-base server by terminating persistent search connections, causing a denial of service.

- **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:** 14 Sep 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2018-14638, GHSA-89rw-hgr3-hvfx, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-14638

## What is CVE-2018-14638?

CVE-2018-14638 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux Aus, published on 14 Sep 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in 389-ds-base before version 1.3.8.4-13. The process ns-slapd crashes in delete_passwdPolicy function when persistent search connections are terminated unexpectedly leading to remote denial of service.

Weakness: CWE-415 (Double Free), CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-14638?

It affects 7 products.


Products: Fedoraproject 389 Directory Server, Redhat Enterprise Linux Aus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-14638?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2018-14638 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-14638 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Redhat Enterprise Linux Aus

- [CVE-2017-7551](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-7551/): Information disclosure in 389-ds-base (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-15135](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15135/): Auth bypass in 389-ds-base (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2019-10171](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-10171/): Denial of service in 389-ds-base (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2018-1054](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1054/): Denial of service in 389-ds-base (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2017-15134](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15134/): Memory corruption in 389-ds-base (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-14638 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-14638 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux Aus, published on 14 Sep 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-2018-14638 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Redhat Enterprise Linux Aus. 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-2018-14638/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-14638/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-14638
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-14638
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-14638

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-14638/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.