CVE-2018-16149 Memory corruption in n/a

Medium 5.9 Published 7 Nov 2018 Updated 5 Aug 2024

Remote attackers can crash the axTLS verifier by crafting malicious X.509 certificates that exploit blind trust in ASN.1 lengths.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2018-16149?

CVE-2018-16149 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 7 Nov 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

In sig_verify() in x509.c in axTLS version 2.1.3 and before, the PKCS#1 v1.5 signature verification blindly trusts the declared lengths in the ASN.1 structure. Consequently, when small public exponents are being used, a remote attacker can generate purposefully crafted signatures (and put them on X.509 certificates) to induce illegal memory access and crash the verifier.

Weakness: CWE-347

Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-16149?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Axtls Project Axtls.

How do I fix CVE-2018-16149?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-16149 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.

Is CVE-2018-16149 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-16149 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-9955-wg6r-ggm9.