CVE-2018-16842 Information disclosure in curl:

Medium 4.4 Published 31 Oct 2018 Updated 15 Apr 2026

A heap-based buffer over-read in curl allows attackers to expose sensitive information or cause a denial of service.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: A user has to click or open something
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2018-16842?

CVE-2018-16842 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 31 Oct 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

Curl versions 7.14.1 through 7.61.1 are vulnerable to a heap-based buffer over-read in the tool_msgs.c:voutf() function that may result in information exposure and denial of service.

Weakness: CWE-125

Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-16842?

It affects 3 products.

Linux distribution packages (17)

`curl` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`curl-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`libcurl` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`libcurl-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`curl` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`curl-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`libcurl` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`libcurl-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`curl` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`curl-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`libcurl` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`libcurl-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`curl` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`curl-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`libcurl` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`libcurl-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation	All versions	`0:7.29.0-54.el7`
`curl` SUSE:Studio Onsite 1.3	All versions	`7.19.7-1.20.53.19.1`

Products include Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Haxx Curl.

How do I fix CVE-2018-16842?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Is CVE-2018-16842 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-16842 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Canonical Ubuntu Linux vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as ALPINE-CVE-2018-16842, CLEANSTART-2026-DZ29638, CURL-CVE-2018-16842, DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16842, GHSA-wh7w-vjg6-xh6h, RHSA-2019:2181 and 2 more.