# CVE-2018-20657: Denial of service in n/a

> A memory leak in GNU libiberty allows attackers to cause denial of service via crafted strings, impacting systems using Binutils.

- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 Jan 2019
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-qhfg-hc2h-mmfc, RHSA-2019:3352, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-20657

## What is CVE-2018-20657?

CVE-2018-20657 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Gnu Binutils, published on 2 Jan 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The demangle_template function in cplus-dem.c in GNU libiberty, as distributed in GNU Binutils 2.31.1, has a memory leak via a crafted string, leading to a denial of service (memory consumption), as demonstrated by cxxfilt, a related issue to CVE-2018-12698.

Weakness: CWE-772 (Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-20657?

It affects 2 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `gdb` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:8.2-6.el8 |
| `gdb-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:8.2-6.el8 |
| `gdb-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:8.2-6.el8 |
| `gdb-doc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:8.2-6.el8 |
| `gdb-gdbserver` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:8.2-6.el8 |
| `gdb-headless` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:8.2-6.el8 |

Products: F5 Traffix Signaling Delivery Controller, Gnu Binutils.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-20657?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2018-20657 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20657 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Gnu Binutils

- [CVE-2019-13050](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-13050/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2015-5738](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-5738/): Information disclosure in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2018-20002](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20002/): Denial of service in n/a (medium 5.5)
- [CVE-2022-27662](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-27662/): Code injection in Traffix SDC (medium 4.8)
- [CVE-2022-27880](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-27880/): Cross-site scripting in Traffix SDC (medium 4.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-20657 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-20657 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Gnu Binutils, published on 2 Jan 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-2018-20657 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Gnu Binutils. 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-2018-20657/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20657/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-20657
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20657
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-20657

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20657/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.