# CVE-2018-17231: Denial of service in n/a

> Attackers can cause Telegram Desktop to crash via a specific search input, though the issue is disputed as it does not cross privilege boundaries.

- **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:** No
- **Published:** 19 Sep 2018
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2018-17231, GHSA-fh6g-c662-cccm

## What is CVE-2018-17231?

CVE-2018-17231 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 19 Sep 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Telegram Desktop (aka tdesktop) 1.3.14 might allow attackers to cause a denial of service (assertion failure and application exit) via an "Edit color palette" search that triggers an "index out of range" condition. NOTE: this issue is disputed by multiple third parties because the described attack scenario does not cross a privilege boundary

Weakness: CWE-617 (Reachable Assertion)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-17231?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Telegram Telegram Desktop.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-17231?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-17231 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-17231 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-17231 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2018-17613](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17613/): Information disclosure in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-17448](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-17448/): Security feature bypass in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2018-17780](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17780/): Information disclosure in n/a (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2021-47793](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47793/): Telegram Desktop 2.9.2 - Denial of Service (PoC) (medium 4.6)
- [CVE-2020-25824](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-25824/): Missing authorization in n/a (low 2.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-17231 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-17231 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 19 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-2018-17231 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2018-17231/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17231/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-17231
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-17231
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-17231

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17231/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.