# CVE-2018-18311: Memory corruption in n/a

> A buffer overflow in Perl's regular expression engine allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via crafted input.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 7 Dec 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2018-18311, CLEANSTART-2026-ZE65059, CLSA-2025-1753207552, CLSA-2025-1753209595, DEBIAN-CVE-2018-18311, DLA-1601-1, GHSA-qr73-9894-ffxf, RHSA-2019:0109, RHSA-2019:1790, RHSA-2019:1942, RHSA-2019:2400, SUSE-SU-2019:2264-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-18311

## What is CVE-2018-18311?

CVE-2018-18311 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Apple Mac Os X, published on 7 Dec 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Perl before 5.26.3 and 5.28.x before 5.28.1 has a buffer overflow via a crafted regular expression that triggers invalid write operations.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-190 (Integer Overflow or Wraparound)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-18311?

It affects 18 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `perl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 4:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-CPAN` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:1.9800-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-ExtUtils-CBuilder` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 1:0.28.2.6-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-ExtUtils-Embed` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:1.30-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-ExtUtils-Install` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:1.58-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-IO-Zlib` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 1:1.10-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Locale-Maketext-Simple` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 1:0.21-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Module-CoreList` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 1:2.76.02-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Module-Loaded` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 1:0.08-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Object-Accessor` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 1:0.42-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Package-Constants` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 1:0.02-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Pod-Escapes` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 1:1.04-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Time-Piece` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:1.20.1-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-core` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 4:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 4:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-libs` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 4:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-macros` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 4:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-tests` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 4:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 4:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-CPAN` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:1.9800-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-ExtUtils-CBuilder` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 1:0.28.2.6-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-ExtUtils-Embed` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:1.30-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-ExtUtils-Install` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:1.58-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-IO-Zlib` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 1:1.10-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Locale-Maketext-Simple` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 1:0.21-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Module-CoreList` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 1:2.76.02-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Module-Loaded` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 1:0.08-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Object-Accessor` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 1:0.42-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Package-Constants` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 1:0.02-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Pod-Escapes` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 1:1.04-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-Time-Piece` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:1.20.1-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-core` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 4:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 4:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-libs` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 4:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-macros` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 4:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-tests` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 4:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 4:5.16.3-294.el7_6 |
| `perl-CPAN` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:1.9800-294.el7_6 |

Products: Apple Mac Os X, Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Mcafee Web Gateway, Netapp E-Series Santricity Os Controller, Netapp Snap Creator Framework, Netapp Snapcenter, Netapp Snapdriver, Perl Perl, Redhat Enterprise Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop, Redhat Enterprise Linux Eus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation, Redhat Openshift Container Platform.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-18311?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2018-18311 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-18311 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apple Mac Os X

- [CVE-2014-7169](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-7169/): GNU Bourne-Again Shell (Bash) Arbitrary Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2014-6271](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-6271/): GNU Bourne-Again Shell (Bash) Arbitrary Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2012-1823](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1823/): PHP-CGI Query String Parameter (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-30713](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-30713/): Apple macOS Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-8526](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8526/): Apple macOS Use-After-Free (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-18311 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-18311 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Apple Mac Os X, published on 7 Dec 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-2018-18311 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Apple Mac Os X. 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-2018-18311/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-18311/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-18311
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-18311
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-18311

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-18311/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.