# CVE-2018-20032: Denial of service in FlexNet Publisher

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service in FlexNet Publisher by sending specific messages that stop the heartbeat between components.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/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:** 21 Mar 2019
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-3fmw-2235-q93p

## What is CVE-2018-20032?

CVE-2018-20032 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Flexera Software LLC FlexNet Publisher, published on 21 Mar 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A Denial of Service vulnerability related to message decoding in lmgrd and vendor daemon components of FlexNet Publisher version 11.16.1.0 and earlier allows a remote attacker to send a combination of messages to lmgrd or the vendor daemon, causing the heartbeat between lmgrd and the vendor daemon to stop, and the vendor daemon to shut down.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-20032?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Flexera Flexnet Publisher, Oracle Communications Lsms.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-20032?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-20032 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-20032 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20032 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Flexera Software LLC FlexNet Publisher

- [CVE-2018-20033](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20033/): Memory corruption in FlexNet Publisher (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-8963](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8963/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2020-12080](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12080/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2020-12081](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12081/): Path traversal in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2019-8960](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8960/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-20032 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-20032 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Flexera Software LLC FlexNet Publisher, published on 21 Mar 2019. 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-2018-20032 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Flexera Software LLC FlexNet Publisher. 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-2018-20032/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20032/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-20032
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20032
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-20032

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20032/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.